Asia Cup 2018, Final: India's ideal playing XI against BangladeshÂ
The Indian team, under Rohit Sharma, has brushed aside the challenges of the opposition teams in this Asian cup with relative ease barring a slight hiccup against Hong Kong in the opening match and a tie against the ever-improving Afghans.
Yes, the Indian team has remained unbeaten and the question on every cricket fan's mind is whether the team can continue their unbeaten run and assert their dominance in the regional cup.
With a final against familiar foes Bangladesh on the horizon, let's take a look at the ideal playing eleven for India which can clinch victory against Bangladesh.
Openers
A hallmark of a good one day team is how well their openers can give them the start they need, whether while setting a target or chasing. Certainly, India has a problem of plenty when it comes to their openers.
Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have been the regular openers for long and they have been in terrific form throughout the tournament, with an average of 81.75 and 134.50 respectively. KL Rahul, a supremely talented cricketer has to sit out due to the presence of these two terrific shorter format players. Even though Rahul had scored a well made 60 in the last match, it is hard to look beyond the successful opening combination of Rohit and Dhawan.
Middle order
In the absence of Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu has been tasked with the job of coming in at No.3 and until now, he has justified his team management's faith in him, with a consistent run of scores at an average of 57.66 in the tournament.
Then comes, India's seemingly never-ending quest to find their perfect No.4, who can anchor the innings if the need arises and also to provide a steady finish in the end. Many players have been tried at the No.4 slot in the past two years without much success.
But one player who has shown a little promise in fulfilling the criteria is Dinesh Karthik, who despite not being able to get a big score, has batted steadily and provided consistent returns.
One has to wait and see ,if Karthik can really get a big score and cement his place in the team for the World cup. Most probably, he would be provided another chance as he has done nothing wrong in the tournament, averaging a respectable 54.50. In at No.5 would be India's talismanic former skipper MS Dhoni, who despite averaging a lowly 13.66, would hope to rise to the occasion and shut his critics, who seem to question his recent struggles against the spinners.