Internet Desk: India continued their hundred percent success rate to lift the Asia Cup for a record sixth time. The men in blue comprehensively defeated Bangladesh by 8 wickets and seven balls to spare on Sunday and will be the firm favorites for the World T20 which gets underway in two days time.
Dhoni once again proved why he is regarded as one of the best finishers in world cricket. He smashed 20 runs off only six balls to lead India to victory. The Indian captain credited his top order batsmen for a superb show in the tournament.
“The credit goes to the top-order batsmen. They have done the bulk of the job, the lower order batsmen just go and do what is needed after that. It’s looking very good now, we are on track for the World T20,” Dhoni said at the post match presentation.
Dhoni also praised the duo of Jasprit Bumrah and young all-rounder Hardik Pandya. He felt the inclusion of both of them has made the side look formidable.
“Jasprit, the beauty is that he can bowl yorkers, if you don’t have the yorker you have to try a lot of other deliveries; his slightly different action also helps him a bit. Hardik can bowl a few overs for us, so if he can give us four in T20s, with his batting and fielding he is a great package,” he said.
Dhoni praised Yuvraj Singh for adjusting well to his changed batting position.
“Looking at this team it is tough to give Yuvi the no. 4 slot, but he has adjusted. We have 13-14 players who are all match-winners, that is the beauty of the side, everyone is taking responsibility to finishing the game. The biggest gain for us is we now have a settled combination.”
Man-of-the-match Shikhar Dhawan, who came good in the final with a well struck 60 consider himself to be a match winner.”It’s special. The best thing is that we won. As a team we have worked hard. We are peaking at the right time. We were talking while chasing runs. We were comfortable during the chase, never felt the pressure. We were under control from the start. I consider myself a match winner. ” Dhawan said.
Virat Kohli, who had a tremendous Asia Cup 2016 feel it was a tricky situation out there.”Rohit getting out early made it tricky but credit to Shikhar for the way he batted. He has delivered when the team needed the most. The 94 stand (with Dhawan) was the game changer,” he said.
Kohli back himself to do well in front of a hostile crowd.
“I back myself to find boundaries and hit the gaps; I don’t try to hit too many sixes. I enjoy the crowd being against me, it pumps me up, the more they boo me the more it motivates me,” he said.
India’s Team Director Ravi Shastri is extremely happy to see the team take a sweet revenge of the ODI series loss here last year. “I just told them it’s a final, and get the bloody job done. Remember the celebrations Bangladesh did when they beat us, “he said.
Shastri feel the present squad is a perfect blend of youth and experience. “We have a good all-round side, packed with power hitters, any of them can fire. If any area we have to tighten up, it is the bowling department. There is tremendous self- belief in the team and the tour of Australia was extremely important, bouncing back to win four matches after losing the first four. I was not surprised one bit when they chased this down,” he said.
Hardik Pandya has been a revelation ever since he got picked in the Indian team. The all-rounder from Baroda has now been part of the team that won three consecutive T20 series. “I got so much motivation from the sounds in the crowd. We have now won three series going into the T20 world cup which will give us the confidence.”