Asia Cup 2018: 3 Reasons why India-Bangladesh could be a better final than India-Pakistan

Fans are always looking forward to any India-Pakistan clash anywhere around the world. While the two countries have a tense history dating back to the time of partition, their cricketing rivalry saw its peak with the boom of one-day cricket during the 1980s. While Sharjah (in the UAE) was the venue that saw some of the greatest encounters between the two sides, their recent encounters have mostly been in Asia Cup and ICC tournaments.

However, with an unbeaten record against Pakistan in World Cups, India also got the better of Pakistan in most of their encounters during this century. While Pakistan surprised everyone with a huge victory over India in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final, the fact is that most of the encounters between the two teams have turned out to be one-sided affairs.

However, Bangladesh, who have an equally good chance of making it to the next round, pose a bigger challenge to India. With India already in the final, a Bangladesh-India final is quite likely. But true cricketing fans need not worry, as this rivalry promises equally good competition as an India-Pakistan match, if not better. Let's have a look at a few reasons why.

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#1 21st Century Rivalry Between India and Bangladesh

Bangladesh's stunning performance during the 1999 World Cup, where they defeated Scotland and finalists Pakistan, helped them earn Test status - playing their first match in 2000 against India. While they did not appear as a threat to the second-best team of that time, India, they caused a major upset defeating India in the Boxing Day ODI in 2004.

But nothing hurt India as much as their 2007 World Cup encounter, where Bangladesh's five-wicket defeat caused India to exit the tournament in just the first round. They pulled another upset, defeating India in the 2012 Asia Cup, and causing them to exit again in the first round. Bangladesh reached the final, and narrowly missed out on the title - losing by a margin of just two runs.

Bangladesh stunned the World Cup by stemming England's tide and making it to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in the 2015 edition. While Bangladesh lost in the quarters to India, India suffered a similar fate to host team Australia in the semis. When India toured Bangladesh for an ODI series three months later, the furious Bangladesh bamboozled India - thanks to the efforts of debutante Mustafizur Rehman.

The two teams also met in the T20 finals of the 2016 Asia Cup and the 2018 Nidahas Trophy. Both matches turned out to be great finishes, and are regarded among the tightest tournament finals of this decade. The drama that was stirred up by Bangladesh veteran Mushfiqur Rehman's 'Naagin (Cobra) Dance' took the Nidahas Trophy to another level. Dinesh Karthik's last ball six to win the match caused the sort of excitement among cricketing circles, as did Javed Miandad's six against India in 1986.

#2 Experience in the Bangladesh Camp

Most of the players in the Bangladesh side have been part of victories over Test-playing nations

Despite Tamim Iqbal's injury, Bangladesh boasts of an experienced lineup that has played under the toughest conditions and beaten the best sides in the world. With the return of Imrul Kayes, Bangladesh have an experienced batting lineup comprising of players like Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan.

Even if star player and all-rounder Shakib misses out on the final due to injury, they have a roaring bowling attack consisting of stalwarts like captain Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hussain, Mustafizur Rehman and Mehidy Hasan Miraz. The recent good form of youngsters such as Mohammad Mithun and Liton Das makes Bangladesh a complete side.

#3 Not the extra Indo-Pak pressure

Unlike the 1980s and 2000s, most Indo-Pak encounters during the 1990s and 2010s have been one-sided

A lot of pressure during India-Pakistan matches can be attributed to the human emotions among people of both the countries. While India and Pakistan have fought many wars, the huge number of terror attacks on India during this century have infuriated the people further. Although many families still reside on both sides of the border, the players on either side are expected to perform to the best of their abilities against each other.

Many people in India and Pakistan, who do not watch cricket, only want to watch India and Pakistan play, and their respective country winning. This is a negative sign for the game, as we witnessed during the 2011 World Cup, when the TV ratings for the India-Pakistan final were ten times higher than those for the India-Sri Lanka final. Both matches between India and Pakistan during this Asia Cup have been one-sided.

True cricketing fans would rather enjoy a well-fought final than a one-sided one. There is no guarantee that Pakistan cannot deliver that sort of a performance, and none either that Bangladesh will. But the lack of that extra pressure of playing a country and dealing with emotions, rather than that of playing a big match for your country - is a major reason that makes India-Bangladesh a better cricketing rivalry - even if not in terms of emotions.