Asia Cup 2018: Is Bangladesh an easy pushover for India in the final?

2. Brittle top order for Bangladesh

Brittle top order of Bangladesh in display

In the absence of Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh have lost quick wickets at the top in every match in this Asia Cup. Even in their match against Pakistan, Bangladesh were 12 for 3 at one stage before Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun bailed the team out of trouble with a 4th wicket partnership of 144 runs.

Against Team India, it will be a different ball game as they will be up against the wrist-spinners should they lose early wickets. The Indians can fancy their chances of opening up the game from the word go with the brittle top order of Bangladesh.

Pakistan’s top order was much stronger with Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam in good form.

3. Inferior pace bowling attack of Bangladesh

Bangladesh have a decent pace bowling attack and Mustafizur Rahim is in good form in this Asia Cup. Having said that, their pace attack is not as threatening as that of Pakistan.

In the match against Bangladesh, Junaid Khan and Shaheen Afridi were terrific in their early bursts with the new ball. Sarfraz Ahmed made a tactical error in not continuing with his opening bowlers beyond 4 overs each.

Bangladesh were on the floor when Sarfraz Ahmed decided to take off both Junaid and Afridi simultaneously from the bowling crease. One more wicket at that stage, perhaps that of the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim, would have decisively tilted the match in favour of Pakistan. It would have been an India vs Pakistan final.

The Indian batsmen would be happy to face the steady bowling of Mustafizur Rahman and Mashrafe Mortaza rather than the express pace of Junaid Khan and Shaheen Afridi.

4. Fifth bowler problem for Bangladesh

The absence of world-class all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has left a huge hole in the bowling resources of Bangladesh. In the match against Pakistan, Bangladesh went into the match with just 4 regular bowlers.

Fortunately for Bangladesh, Mahmadullah and Soumya Sarkar came to their rescue. They bowled exceptionally well in tandem. To make matters easy for Bangladesh, Pakistan promoted Shadab Khan to No. 6 and he struggled to reach 4 off 24 balls with the non-regular bowlers bowling from both the ends.

The chances of Mahmadullah and Soumya Sarkar coming good against the strong Indian batting line-up are minimal. More so, if India are to bat first in the final. It is much easier for the non-regular bowlers like Mahmadullah and Sarkar to contribute with a few quite overs when bowling second.

It is a different story when the opposition team is batting first and their batsmen are on the ascent. The Indian batsman should aim to exploit the weakness of the Bangladesh team as far as their fifth bowling option is concerned.

Compared to Bangladesh, Pakistan had got a more balanced bowling attack with 5 regular bowlers and Shoaib Malik as the back- up bowler.