We are the Kings of Asia

The perfect-end

The Sher-e-Bangla stadium was ready yesterday to play host to the finale clash between India and Bangladesh. Fans had also thronged the stadium in large numbers to cheer their teams. However, rain played spoilsport. It seemed like the rain gods wanted to test the patience of the two teams and also the fans. If the rains had persisted for long then the match would have been called off and the trophy would have been shared between the two teams since, there was no reserve day. The question that came to my mind was-Is it fair to not keep a reserve day? Then realisation dawned upon me that we should keep this debate for some other day since, the rain gods had showed mercy upon us and the match finally began.  

With the Indian team winning the toss and deciding to field first, in a rain curtailed 15 over match, the Bangladeshi fans were all pumped up to see their batsman go all guns blazing and mile a mammoth total. However, a disciplined bowling performance by the Indian team left their batsman to chase 121 in the span of 15 overs.

When the opening pair of Dhawan and Rohit came out to bat, the Bangladeshi fans were rallying behind their team and every dot ball was cheered as if they had won the match. The chase started on a cautious note by both the batsmen but soon Bangladesh scalped the prized wicket of Rohit Sharma and the entire crowd came on their feet only to be left silent with the entry of the most consistent batman of the tournament, Virat Kohli. Both Shikhar and Virat went about doing their usual business and stitched a match-winning 94 run partnership.

Without ever huffing and puffing, without ever clicking into top gear, Kohli kept finding the boundaries at regular intervals to ease the pressure on Dhawan at the other end, who did not particularly look too comfortable at the beginning of the innings.

Bangladesh on their part also failed to capitalise on the chances that their bowlers had provided in the middle and the momentum, kept shifting towards the Indian team. The Bangladeshi fans and the team had hoped that after the fall of Dhawan the Indian team would buckle under pressure and fall like nine pins since, the run rate kept hovering between 9-10 runs per over. But the script was written differently. 

After Dhawan was caught out, Dhoni came out to bat at No 4. It was nothing unusual since, he had done it on previous occasions too. Who can forget the World Cup final, when he came to bat instead of the in-form Yuvraj after the fall of the wicket? The best finisher of the world had faced only 9 deliveries in the entire Asia Cup and with 20 runs to get from the last 2 overs he finished it as clinically as it could get. So what did he do? Smashed 20 runs in 6 balls to finish the match before the last over, of course.

Kohli, Dhawan and Dhoni showed superb professionalism and the game was won thanks to their mental makeup as much as the composition of the side. The sixth Asia Cup title and Dhoni's fourth multi-national tournament win ensured India's warm-up to the ICC World T20 has been near-flawless.

Tougher tests await in the World Cup, but this settled Indian side looks well set to handle most challenges thrown their way.