Asia Cup 2018 Final, India vs Bangladesh: Statistical analysis
The 2018 Asia Cup will conclude on 28 September in Dubai International Stadium with the final being played between India and Bangladesh.
The two teams will face each other for the second time in the 2018 Asia Cup. It will also be the second Asia Cup Final to feature India and Bangladesh as these two teams met in the final of the last Asia Cup that was held in 2016.
India had registered an eight-wicket win to clinch the Asia Cup, 2016 -- which was also the only edition to have T20 matches and not ODIs.
The ongoing tournament has witnessed some cracking encounters, including the India-Afghanistan tie and even a last ball decider between Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
13 editions of Asia Cup have happened so far with the first edition happening back in 1984. It is surprising that India and Bangladesh have only met once in the final so far and will clash only for the second time in an Asia Cup final in its 14th edition.
Let's see what the stats say for India- Bangladesh Asia Cup Finale:
#1 Asia Cup Titles- Sri Lanka were the hosts in 1986 and India had boycotted that edition due to strained cricketing relations between the two nations. Despite this occasion, India has won the Asia Cup maximum times -- with six titles to their name. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have won five and two Asia Cup titles, respectively, and Bangladesh is yet to win it's first Asia Cup title
#2 ICC ODI Ranking- India currently stands at No. 2 in the ICC ODI team rankings with a rating of 122 while Bangladesh is down at No. 7 with 90 rating points. Looking at the ICC ranks Bangladesh seems an easy win for India.
#3 ODI head to head- India and Bangladesh have played a total of 34 matches against each other, the match of Asia Cup Super Four being their last encounter in which India thrashed Bangladesh by seven wickets. Out of the 34 matches, 28 times India has emerged victorious and in 5 matches Bangladesh outpowered India with 1 match ending in a tie.
#4 Captain's record in ODI- In absence of Virat Kohli Indian team is led by in-form opening batsman Rohit Sharma. Sharma has won six of seven ODI matches as India captain with a win percentage of 85%.
Four of six victories came in the current Asia Cup. On the hand, Mashrafe Mortaza has led from the front to guide Bangladesh to the 2018 Asia Cup final.
Out of the 63 ODI matches as Bangladesh captain, Mortaza has won 35 with a win percentage of mere 57.37%. Win percentage shows Rohit Sharma stronger but undoubtedly Mortaza has the advantage of experience in captaincy.
#5 Win percentage in Asia Cup- Till date, India has played 53 Asia Cup matches and has won 35 with a win percentage of 66.03%, while Bangladesh has played 47 Asia Cup matches and has won only 10 with a win percentage of just above 21%.
#6 Leading run scorer- Out of the three top scorers in the tournament two are Indian openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma sitting at first and third positions respectively. Dhawan is the leading run scorer in the tournament with 327 runs in four matches, while Bangladesh wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim is the second highest run scorer with 297 runs in four matches.
#7 Leading wicket taker- It is the only department where Bangladesh player is in lead. Out of the three top wicket-takers in the tournament, Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh is at No. 2 with eight wickets in his bag followed by Indian yorker specialist Jasprit Bumrah at No. 3 with 7 wickets. However, Bumrah has played only three matches in comparison to Mustafizur's four matches. Rashid Khan who is already out of the tournament is at the top with 10 wickets in five matches.
#8 Place of the final match- India will have the advantage in final as the match will be played at Dubai International Stadium, where India have played all of their 2018 Asia Cup matches. Bangladesh has played only twice at Dubai International Stadium in the tournament as most of their matches held at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
#9 Performance so far in the Asia Cup 2018- Other than the tie against Afghanistan in their last match of super four, India has won all their matches with a big margin in the tournament so far.
On the other hand, Bangladesh won 1 of 2 group stage matches and 2 of 3 super four matches in the tournament and made it to the finals by stunning Pakistan by 37 runs in a thrilling encounter.
#10 Previous encounters in tournament finals- India and Bangladesh have battled out in just two tournament finals so far and both went in favour of India.
Their first tournament final was T20 Asia Cup 2016 that held in Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, where India whipped the hosts by eight wickets.
Another occasion was Nidahas Trophy final and in this nail-biting encounter, India defeated Bangladesh by four wickets.
The Men in Blue needed five runs off the last ball and Dinesh Kartik became the hero on the day as he played a superb cameo and hit a maximum on the last ball, helping India clinch the trophy.