India vs Bangladesh, Final - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: Asia Cup 2018 Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Date & Time: Sep 28, 03:30 PM LOCAL

Liton Das converted his maiden fifty-plus score into a hundred © AFP

That's a wrap

It was a fitting finale with Bangladesh running India really close. It could have gone either way but India emerged on the victorious side in the battle of nerves. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. Join us soon for more international cricket, starting with the South Africa-Zimbabwe ODI on Sunday.

Post match formalities

Rohit Sharma, India captain: "We played some good cricket throughout the tournament and this is the reward of all the hard work throughout the tournament. I have been part of games like this before and credit to the guys in the middle to handle the pressure, and to cross the finishing line was a fantastic effort. You have to give some credit to Bangladesh. They put us under pressure in the first 10 overs. We thought if the ball got older, the spinners would do the work for us. It was important to keep it tight and we have done that well throughout the tournament. If you have a team like that, the captain will always look good. It wouldn't be easy if we don't have the support of the remaining 10 players, so I am really proud of the boys. I would like to thank the crowd, who have come out in huge numbers to support us throughout the tournament."

Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh Captain: "I hope we won a lot of hearts. We fought till the last ball, but we made a lot of mistakes on the field today. We bowled really well. We asked the batsmen to make at least 260, but at the end of the day the bowlers did really well. I wanted to bowl the quicks first, because I wanted to restrict the runs as they were going after us. We didn't want the spinners to be charged so I bowled out the fast bowlers."

Shikhar Dhawan is the Man of the Series for his rich haul of 342 runs at an average of 70. Here's what he had to say: "I enjoyed this tournament. Fantastic final. Good tournament for me, enjoyed my batting, and hope to continue in the same way. I enjoy playing it in a cool and mature manner. I was playing more calmly this time, and I want consistency and elegance at the same time. Rohit and I keep switching the aggressor's role sometimes, and I congratulate him for having a fantastic Asia Cup too."

2014 412 WC 2015 338 CT 2017 342 2018 Final

125 S Jayasuriya v Ind, Karachi, 2008 114*Fawad Alam v SL, Mirpur, 2014 101 L Thirimanne v Pak, Mirpur, 2014 100 M Atapattu v Pak, Dhaka, 2000 100 LITON DAS v Ind, Dubai, 2018 *

69 3

Surprise move

Bangladesh decide to send out Mehidy Hasan to open along with Liton Das. Will this association prove productive for Bangladesh? A lucky break straightaway for Liton. He edges a Bhuvneshwar delivery in the opening over and the ball travelled to second slip where Dinesh Karthik could only get his finger tips while diving to his right. Three runs off the first over. The first four of the game, which is scored off Bumrah, comes in a streak manner - a thick edge off Mehidy's bat that evades the slip cordon and runs down to third man.

Toss and teams

Rohit Sharma wins the toss and decides to bowl. As expected, all five guys who missed out in the last game are back, says Rohit. Bangladesh leave out Mominul Haque and bring in left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam.

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Liton Das(w), Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza(c), Nazmul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w), Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

Pitch Report

"Hot and sultry in Dubai. A beautiful pitch. The curator has maintained a good balance and hasn't over-watered the wicket - so it isn't too dry. A few grass patches and a few cracks. Sounds hard and solid (Rameez knocks his fingers on the wicket). India would like the pitch. The ball might skid onto the bat from the grass patches. The ball tends to skid better under lights. There was some grip and turn for the spinners, especially for the Afghans and Jadeja. The cracks might loosen up because of the sun baking it, and that will help the ball to grip a little for the spinners. Definitely a bat-first pitch," reckon Rameez Raja and Sunil Gavaskar.

Did You Know?

- The last time India contested in the finals of an Asia Cup (50 overs), it was Dinesh Karthik who won the Man of the Match award for his 66 runs as India defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs in 2010.

- This is the first time India are playing a multi-nation tournament (50 overs) final without Virat Kohli featuring in it. The last time it happened was before he made his debut. It was during the 2008 Asia Cup final which India lost to Sri Lanka by 100 runs.

- The last time India lost a multi-nation tournament final by batting first was back in 2005 in the Triangular Series in Zimbabwe against New Zealand.

- Rohit Sharma averages 23.11 in 9 tournament finals with 208 runs. He has scored only 2 fifties - 66 against Australia in 2008 (CB series) and 58 against Sri Lanka in the Windies tri-nation series in 2013 - and India won both.

- Mushfiqur Rahim has scored nearly 29 percent of Bangladesh's runs in the Asia Cup 2018 [297 out of 1041]

- Three of the top-five bowlers in this tournament will feature in the final - Mustafizur Rahman (8 wickets), Jasprit Bumrah, and Kuldeep Yadav (7 wickets)

Tiger power

"Hello from Dubai! Most number of fans I've seen turn up at this hour for a game at this venue in the last couple of weeks. Bangladesh fans outnumber Indian ones for now I'd say," pings Prakash from the venue.

Build-up

After 28 matches, including 16 in the qualifying phase and 12 in the Asia Cup proper, it's time for the big final. Hello and welcome to the Live Blog for the summit clash of the 2018 edition of the tournament, being played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. In case any of you didn't follow the previous game and were hoping for a third India-Pakistan clash, surprise, surprise. It's India vs Bangladesh with the latter entering the final after punching above their weight.

India enter this game after a tie against a spirited Afghanistan team, who despite their fine efforts in the tournament, weren't able to overcome the pressure situations in their Super Four games. India had made as many as five changes in their last outing, resting the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. However, with the limited-overs heavyweights set to return to the eleven, India are overwhelming favourites heading into this game.

Bangladesh overcame a lot of problems in their path to the final, including injuries to key players and top-order let-downs. While they have displayed plenty of courage and made it thus far in the tournament, they need to come up with their best game yet if they are to defeat an Indian side that hasn't suffered a loss in this competition till date.

Prakash lists out what Bangladesh need to prioritise in order to challenge India. Meanwhile, captain Mashrafe Mortaza, who has marshalled his resources well, believes that one stellar performance can make their journey memorable.

While we wait for the toss and figure out if Mushfiqur Rahim - the hero of Bangladesh's win against Pakistan - is fit enough to play this game, here's the build-up for this all-important clash.