17 September,2023 02:13 PM IST | Colombo | mid-day online correspondent
The final of the ongoing Asia Cup between the hosts Sri Lanka and India promises a thrill-a-minute ride (Pic: @bcci/X)
India is hours away from taking on defending champion Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final 2023 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. A Virat Kohli-powered India will head into the summit clash as firm favourites despite a few niggling questions still remaining unanswered. The Men in Blue will look to snap its five-year trophy draught in multi-nation events.
A glance at India's trophy cabinet will reveal the uncomfortable truth of them not winning any titles in the last five years, and Sunday will be a good opportunity for them to snap that unhappy streak. Not to forget a win before getting into the World Cup mode will be the ideal boost for a side which hasn't yet fully ticked all boxes but is showing way more solidity than one would have thought a few months back.
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The weather has been a subject of intense debate throughout the Sri Lanka leg of the tournament. The event was highly affected by continuous thunderstorms and drizzling in Sri Lanka which curtailed a few games of the tournament. The match between India and Pakistan in the Super Four stage of Asia Cup 2023 was called off and moved for a reserve day after rain did not allow any play after 24.1 overs. However, the next day, India continued their batting from where they left and, won the match by 228 runs win at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on reserve day.
Initially, there were several discussions with regard to relocating the Super 4 matches to Hambantota, but ultimately, the decision was made to adhere to the original schedule. As for the upcoming final encounter, a full-fledged match is expected as there is no sign of rainfall in Colombo at the moment. The sky was bright and clear early this morning.
The final of the ongoing Asia Cup between the hosts Sri Lanka and India promises a thrill-a-minute ride, with both teams recording impressive wins on the road to the final. While the Lankans will go into the final as the defending champions, Team India, led by in-form Rohit Sharma, will be desperate to lift the trophy that they haven't won since 2018.
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumraj, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar (cover for injured Axar Patel)
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Pathum Nissanaka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Janith Perera, Kusal Mendis (vc), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Matheesha Pathirana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushan Hemantha, Binura Fernando, Pramod Madushan
(With agency inputs)
