Nidahas Trophy 2018: Mahela Jayawardene believes Bangladesh can spring a surprise over India in the final
What's the story?
Former Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardene believes that Bangladesh have what it takes to spring a surprise over favourites India in the final of 2018 Nidahas Trophy which will be held at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.
Bangladesh reached the final on the back of two thrilling wins over hosts Sri Lanka in the group stages and despite their twin defeats to their opponents in the final, Jayawardene feels that being underdogs in the final can benefit Shakib-Al-Hasan's side's chances in the final.
“Bangladesh have nothing to lose and everything to gain against India," Jayawardene said.
"They can enjoy being the underdogs after two round-robin stage defeats and attack India without the pressure of expectation."
The former Sri Lankan skipper also believes that the batting department of the two sides pretty much even themselves out and that in the T20 format, it is the team which is more adept at handling pressure situations better, rather than the stronger side, that comes out victorious in the end.
"They (India) have a clear advantage in terms of their pace bowling against Bangladesh, but in terms of batting things are more evenly balanced. Bangladesh have the experience in their top order to do some damage," he said.
"At the end of the day, as is so often the case with T20 cricket, it will probably come down to who handles the pressure the best and is able to best navigate themselves through the key moments in the game,” Jayawardene added.
In case you didn't know...
As Jayawardene rightly pointed out, it is the batting that has contributed largely to Bangladesh's run to the final with Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah scoring match-winning knocks to steer their side through in the two group-stage fixtures over Sri Lanka.
The latter turned out to be a heated affair with a confusion surrounding a no-ball call in the final over leading to angry reactions from the Bangladesh camp with skipper Shakib-Al-Hasan asking his players to leave the field with four balls left to go.
Better sense prevailed in the end as Bangladesh completed a thrilling win but the unsavoury scenes continued even after the match with a few players having to be pulled apart in the end.
It was also revealed afterwards that the glass door of the Bangladesh dressing room was broken by the yet-to-be-identified player(s).
Extra Cover: Nidahas Trophy: Living the riveting final over between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh ball-by-ball
The heart of the matter
Fans of the game will be hoping that the quality of cricket takes centre-stage in the final and Jayawardene is expecting the match to be a closely-fought contest.
The 40-year-old has been impressed by India's showing in the tournament despite missing many key players like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah as they won three straight matches to reach the final after losing their opening match of the tri-series against the hosts.
Jayawardene said that India's progress pointed to their strength-in-depth in all departments of the game, especially when it comes to fast bowling.
Still, he expects Bangladesh to put up a strong fight in the final with their experienced batting line-up and feels that there is very little margin for error in the T20 format to pick out a clear favourite for the tie.
What's next?
As stated earlier, the final of the 2018 Nidahas Trophy will be held at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.
Bangladesh are likely to remain unchanged from their win over Sri Lanka on Friday while India is expected to make one change from their final group fixture.
Extra Cover: Nidahas Trophy 2018: India's predicted XI to take on Bangladesh in the final
Author's take
The manner in which Bangladesh triumphed over hosts Sri Lanka in two matches to make their way to the final should serve as a reminder for India to not take their opponents in Sunday's final lightly, despite beating them in their two matches so far.
The T20 format leaves little room for error and the match can slip away from one's grip in a matter of few balls and India would do well to keep their focus on the game to emerge champions later tonight.