The Asia Cup final, which pits India’s Rohit Sharma against Sri Lanka’s underdogs on Sunday, is a critical momentum-builder before the ODI World Cup begins next month.
The cricketing heavyweights have a combined total of 13 Asian championships, and Sri Lanka has a history of slipping into the championship game, much to the dismay of supporters eager for any matchup between India and Pakistan.
India’s 50-over tournament winning streak came to an end as Bangladesh defeated them in the final Super Four game on Friday by a margin of six runs.
Shubman Gill scored 121 runs, but his effort was in naught because India failed to reach their target of 266 runs in Colombo, where the final will also take place on Sunday.
“I don’t think it has broken our momentum,” Gill told reporters after the narrow defeat.
“We have played good cricket. Sometimes it happens on these wickets. I was set and should have finished off the game.”
Gill stated that winning India’s eighth Asia Cup championship would give them “confidence” before the World Cup, which would begin in their country on October 5.
Rain forced the cancellation of India’s opening game against Pakistan in Pallekele, where Pakistan’s fast bowlers rattled their top order and dismissed them for 266 in the sole innings that could be played.
powerful weapons In their subsequent match against Babar Azam’s squad, Virat Kohli and comeback batsman KL Rahul came back with centuries to amass 356-2 and destroy Pakistan by 228 runs.
Then, India held off a valiant Sri Lankan charge to secure their spot in the championship game, although Gill warned that their opponents remained a danger.
“We will have to pull up our socks and be at our 100 percent to beat them,” he said.
