Asia Cup 2018 Final: Rohit Sharma resumes captaincy as India recall five rested players

Facing Bangladesh in the final of the Asia Cup 2018 on Friday, India decided to bring back the five players who were rested for the dead-rubber clash against Afghanistan earlier this week. Skipper Rohit Sharma resumed captaincy for India while Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal all returned to the side in place of KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Deepak Chahar, Siddarth Kaul, and Khaleel Ahmed.

India decided to drop Rahul in spite of the 27-year-old scoring a half century in the only game he got to play in the tournament. Against Afghanistan, the right-handed batsman opened the innings for India and stitched a 110-run partnership. Rahul also made his contribution with the bat as he scored 60 runs.

Speaking to former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja after winning the toss and electing to field first, Sharma said that the team selection was made as the situation demanded. “All five guys who missed out in the last game are back for the final. I can understand the feelings of the guys who are missing out after just one game, but we have to go with the demands of the team,” he said.

Bangladesh made only one change from their virtual semi-final winning team against Pakistan. Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza said at the toss that Nazmul Islam has replaced Mominul Haque in the team. “Today is another big match but we have to take the pressure off, play hard, and fight it out till the last ball. Mominul is not playing, left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam comes in – we’re going with 5 bowlers today,” Mortaza said.

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

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