Asia Cup 2018: Is Bangladesh an easy pushover for India in the final?
It is an India vs Bangladesh final in the 14th edition of the Asia Cup 2018. While some of the Indian fans would be delighted to see the back of home team Pakistan, some others would be ruing the missed opportunity to watch yet another match between India and Pakistan.
To the credit of Bangladesh, they came back quite strongly after the thrashing they got at the hands of Afghanistan in the group stage and India in the Super Four stage. The format of this Asia Cup enabled Bangladesh to reach the final even after their dismal show in the initial stages of the tournament.
The other finalist, India are sitting on top of the table. Before the tie against Afghanistan, India had an unbeaten record of 10 consecutive matches in Asia Cup. During that dream run, the one team that ran India close in the Asia Cup was Bangladesh.
In this article, an attempt is made to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the Bangladesh team vis-a-vis the Pakistan team.
How Bangladesh can be a comparatively easy opponent for Team India?
1. The absence of the key players in Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan
Both Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan had to leave the team due to injuries. Tamim Iqbal is an experienced and explosive opener. He has a very good record against India. Whenever Tamim gets going, he puts his team in a commanding position. His experience will be missed in the final.
Shakib Al Hasan, on the other hand, is a quality all-rounder who can break into any international team purely on the basis of either of his skills, that is to say, batting or bowling. Shakib is the No 1 all-rounder in ICC ODI rankings. It is very difficult to replace such a good player and his absence will upset the balance of the Bangladesh team.
In this Asia Cup, Shakib hasn’t done anything exceptional as a batsman. However, he is a big match player and very difficult to contain once he gets going. In bowling, Shakib is generally tight and has the knack of picking up crucial wickets. His class and experience will be sorely missed in the final.
The absence of the two experienced players Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan from the Bangladesh team would act in India’s favour in the final.
Comparatively speaking, Pakistan team was at full strength and would have given the Indians a run for their money had they reached the final.