Mirpur, Mar 5: Unbeaten in the tournament with four consecutive wins, India will be wary of slipping up at the last hurdle when they meet hosts Bangladesh in the final of the Asia Cup Twenty20 cricket tournament at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Sunday.

Asia Cup Photos;

The Indians have seemed virtually unstoppable in this tournament. The batsmen have done well on the green wicket while the bowlers, especially the pacers, have exploited the favourable conditions well. (All you need to know about Asia Cup 2016 Final between India and Bangladesh)

The excellent performance by the bowlers has been backed up by the batsmen with Virat Kohli leading the pack. Opener Rohit Sharma has also been in good knick while Yuvraj Singh, 34, celebrated his comeback with a crucial knock against arch-rivals Pakistan and bettered it with a crucial inning against Sri Lanka. The only point of concern is continuing poor form of opener Shikhar Dhawan.

Harbhajan Singh, Pawan Negi, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were allowed to come off the bench in the last group match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and performed admirably. But they are unlikely to retain their spots, with Nehra, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja expected to return for the final.

Placed at the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings, India are overwhelming favourites on paper against the 10th ranked hosts. The group stage match between the two teams saw India complete 45-run victory. But the final will be a different matter.

Bangladesh have developed a habbit of punching above their weight and are expected to put up a spirited fight in front of a capacity home crowd. Apart from the sole loss against India, they have won all their group matches, defeating highly rated opponents Sri Lanka and Pakistan and minnows UAE.

Pacers Taskin Ahmed and Al-Amin Hossain have been excellent with the new ball while Sabbir Rahman and Mahmudullah have put in vital contributions with the bat. Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mithun, and Shakib Al Hasan have performed well on occasion, but have been somewhat inconsistent. The hosts will take inspiration from their 2-1 One-Day International (ODI) series victory over India last year.

With the World T20 starting next week, emerging as kings in their own continent will give the title winners a major boost before they set out to take on the world.

---

Squads

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Pawan Negi, Harbhajan Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Parthiv Patel (wicketkeeper).

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Imrul Kayes, Nurul Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Nasir Hosain, Shabbir Rahaman, Mahmudullah Riyadh, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahaman, Abu Hider, Mohammed Mithun, Arafat Sunny.

Match starts at 7 PM IST (Live on Star Sports)

IANS