Asia Cup Final 2023: Defending champions will look to defend the title

On 17th September 2023 a match in Colombo between India and Sri Lanka will decide the winner of Asia Cup 2023 Team India will hunt for their 8th Asia Cup trophy whereas defending champions Sri Lanka will look forward to defending the titleWhile the Lankans will go into the final as the defending champions Team India led by inform Rohit Sharma will be desperate to lift the trophy that they havent won since 2018Having secured qualification for the showpiece event overcoming myriad challenges and close contests in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers the Lankans would be keen not to cede the mantle of Asias best to their subcontinental neighboursA win in the allimportant final on Sunday will certainly make them a dark horse in the World Cup where the matches will be played on familiar subcontinental surfacesAlso Read He has been working really hard to stay fit available England skipper Buttler on Jason RoySri Lanka came close to handing India their first defeat of the Asia Cup 2023 in the Super Four stage but the visitors bowling attack came to the party to eke out a hardfought winOn a surface known to offer plenty of purchase for the spinners the Lankan Lions will miss their bowling trump card a mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana The tweaker who has been among the wickets in the tournament was ruled out of the final after sustaining an injury in his right hamstring during their nervejangling Super Four clash against PakistanIn a tournament where Pakistans pace trio of Haris Rauf Shaheen Shah Afridi and Nasim Shah has dominated the wickettakers list Theekshana made his mark by claiming 9 wickets in 5 matches at an economy of 515Barring a narrow defeat in an inconsequential Super Four clash against Bangladesh on Friday India have been on song in the tournament However the visitors suffered a setback going into the final with allrounder Axar Patel ruled out because of a left quadriceps strain that he sustained during the Super Four clash with Bangladesh on FridayIn his place Washington Sundar was called in ahead of the final and will have an opportunity to put himself in contention for the World Cup squad should he make the playing eleven on SundayAcircAllrounder Shardul while going cold with the willow so far in the tournament has been in good wickettaking form as he ended up with figures of 365 against Bangladesh Shakib Al Hasan Anamul Haque and Tanzid Hasan were his victims on the eveningBut India could be tempted to play Sundar in place of Shardul in the final as offers a similar set of skills with the bat while adding more variety with his lefthanded batting style in a lineup that majorly comprises righthandersAhead of the clash of the Asian giants Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka declared that his team was ready for the finalOf course we are ready for the Asia Cup 2023 final See it totally depends on the pitch The pitches have been playing a part in this tournament According to the pitch stats we are picking a good side especially bowling against India we need to take more wickets upfront That opens the game for us Thats a key area in the game Shanaka said in a preematch press conference on SaturdayShubman Gill who struck a century albeit in a losing cause against Bangladesh stressed the importance of lifting the Asia Cup trophy ahead of the World CupWinning the Asia Cup final is very important for us because we need to create a winning habit Peaking at the right time and gaining momentum at the right time is important Gill saidWith Agency Inputs