Jiten : “Obviously excited for the final but I can’t help emphasis the fact that none of the Asian teams even tried to play fearless cricket. Unlike the other two ongoing series and the way the players like Klaassen, Warner, Labuschagne and Stokes have played, their Asian counterparts haven’t yet adopted the modern ODI approach yet! I don’t think any Asian team is favourite this wc despite it being played India!” — Think that’s a little harsh Jiten, considering the nature of the surfaces. The games have been quite competitive affairs for the most part. Though, I do think there is a a certain level of doubt about the abilities of the sides apart from India being able to regularly put up monster totals on better batting surfaces.
Sri Lanka XI: 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 8 Dunith Wellalage, 9 Dushan Hemantha, 10 Matheesha Pathirana, 11 Kasun Rajitha
Sri Lanka has two changes. Kasun Rajitha is back in the side, while Hemantha comes in for Theekshana.
India XI: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 KL Rahul (wk), 5 Ishan Kishan, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Six changes in all from India from the loss to Bangladesh. All the main players are back, with Sundar in for Patel as well.
Rohit Sharma says he would have batted first as well, but that he hopes to put pressure on the Lankan batters early on. He also takes confidence on the nearly-chase against Bangladesh, and is very happy about the form of Shubman Gill. Washington Sundar will come in for Axar Patel.
A huge roar goes up as Sri Lanka win the toss. Dasun Shanaka says there might be some turn in the afternoon, but it looks like a good batting track nevertheless. Gives credit to the selectors for putting together such a good, young team. Confirms that legspinner Dushan Hemantha will replace Theekshana.
2.30pm Time for the toss…and Sri Lanka have won it! They will bat first!
Josh: “Are we going to need a reserve day ?” — For context Josh, the forecast for the SL-Pak game was far worse and we still managed a full 42-overs-a-side game. These ground staff are truly magicians. Today the forecast is not nearly as bad. But it would be quite on-brand for this to be the day for it to pelt down.
Lakwin: “Of the 7 finals that SL and IND have met in the Asia cup – IND have won 4, SL 3. Post 1997, SL have definitely have had the edge. Jayasuriya has been a phenomenal performer in the history of Asia cup. 1200 runs (most) at a SR of 102 ! Not to mention 22 wickets with an econ of 5! What a tournament performer. Only other player close to 1000 runs is Tendulkar (obviously) with 971.”
Nitigya: “Is there a reserve day for the final?” — Yes there is, Nitigya.
Dillon: “A win for Sri Lanka today would certainly raise the eyebrows of the other contenders of this upcoming World Cup. Against one of the favourites, and without their entire frontline bowling attack, this would be a monumental achievement for Sri Lanka.”
Pitch report: “It’s a brand new pitch, but it looks the very similar to the ones that have come before. Looks dry, so the move would be to bat first, see if there’s turn under lights, and win the Asia Cup!”
LIVE ball-by-ball commentary of the India vs Sri Lanka Asia Cup final is also available in Hindi and in Tamil.
Quick bit of housekeeping, reminder that in the USA, you can watch the Asia Cup final LIVE on ESPN+.
aaron: “”but more pertinently a result of the opposition committing crucial errors in pressure situations.” – really? one mistake from one team should not overshadow how relentless this “bits and pieces” sri lankan team has been this entire tournament” — Fair point, Aaron, was in no way trying to diminish Sri Lanka’s efforts these past few weeks. But that error was absolutely monumental in the context of them qualifying.
Diyath knows what it’s about today: “The fairytale for Sri Lanka would be if the top and middle order both struggle today, but Shanaka finally gets back in form to beat India with the bat”
2.20pm The toss is about 10 minutes away, but while we wait why not checkout Sanjay Manjrekar’s preview of some of the key points ahead of the final. Anil Kumble and Farveez Maharoof meanwhile discuss how exactly Sri Lanka might go about replacing the excellent Theekshana.
Jaspreet: “I hope Thakur plays and becomes MOM today. He has potential and can deliver. If not Washington won’t be a bad replacement. Tilak should play instead of Rahul.”
In terms of team news, Maheesh Theekshana is missing and so is Axar Patel for India. Washington Sundar has been called up as cover.
Seeing as I’m being bombarded with requests for weather updates, here it goes…It’s sunny! (for now).
Mustafa Moudi: “In Super 4 Stage – Pakistan defeated Bangladesh, who won against India, who have beaten Sri Lanka, who were victorious against Pakistan. Great Cycle !!”
But finals are strange, fickle beasts, and Sri Lanka will have a sold-out Premadasa behind them. In Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka also seem to have a woefully out of form, but increasingly charmed Captain – something he is seemingly all too aware of. Despite being forced to qualify for both the T20 and ODI World Cups in recent years, a win today would quite incredibly see Sri Lanka as back-to-back Asia Cup champions. The line “stranger things have happened” pops immediately to mind, but this would be top-tier strange by most metrics.
India by contrast are the definition of a well-oiled machine. They’re doing everything you would expect of World Cup favourites – trialling depth, coming through unfamiliar and uncomfortable match conditions unscathed, and have such clarity in thought that defeats are seen merely as a stepping-stone to the overarching goal of World Cup victory. But don’t just take my word for it, here’s Shreshth Shah with his all-encompassing preview, where he also sheds light on the dreaded *whispers* rain factor.
Coming into this game, you could hardly have painted a more polar picture in terms of build-up. Sri Lanka have scrapped and hustled their way to the final; they started the tournament with four frontline bowlers out, they will end it with a fifth on the sidelines. Their wins have come partly down to their desire to fight to the very end, but more pertinently a result of the opposition committing crucial errors in pressure situations.
First a bit of backstory. In its ODI format, of the 14 editions so far, Sri Lanka have made the finals 10 times and India 9; they’ve faced each other in seven of them. Three of Sri Lanka’s five Asia Cup wins (ODIs) have come against India, while the Indians have had the beating of the Lankans in four of their six finals victories (the inaugural tournament was decided via round-robin format). But rarely have these sides met here under such disparate of circumstances.
2pm Welcome to the big one folks! It’s India v Sri Lanka part two – as far as this tournament is concerned at least – but part eight (8!) in this quite storied Asia Cup rivalry. This is Madushka Balasuriya, and along with Hemant Brar, we’ll be bringing you all of today’s pulsating action!