India have carried their superb T20I form to Asia Cup where they made it to the final unbeaten, recording four victories and topping the table with eight points. On Sunday, they will face hosts Bangladesh in the final and aim to clinch their second ever Twenty20 title after the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa.
Here, TOI takes a look at the hurdles they had to clear to make it to the final of the 2016 Asia Cup.
v Bangladesh: Won by 45 runsIn the first match of the tournament proper, an all-round India posted a comprehensive 45-run win against Bangladesh in Mirpur. Sent in to bat, opener Rohit Sharma continued his prolific run in limited-overs cricket to score 83 helping his side to 166/6. The opener remained calm amidst the top-order failure that saw three Indian wickets falling for 42 runs by the eight over.
His cause was helped by an early drop catch though. He weaved two important partnerships, first with Yuvraj for 45 runs and then with young Hardik Pandya for 61 runs before being caught in the final over. The Indian pace trio of
Ashish Nehra,
Jasprit Bumrah and Pandya then tied down the Bangladeshi batsmen, restricting them to 121/7 in 20 overs. Nehra was excellent with the new ball, striking in his second over and then returned at the death to add two more to his tally, finishing with 3 for 23.
v Pakistan - Won by 5 wicketsThe highly anticipated clash between the old rivals was fast moving towards a dull end when Mohammad Amir bowled a terrific spell with the new ball, breathing back life in an otherwise easy Indian chase of 84. After opting to field, the Indian bowlers ran through the Pakistan lineup, reducing them to a sorry 47/6 in 10 overs. Only two of their batsmen managed to register scores in double digits, the top-scorer being Sarfraz Ahmed (25), the next best being the extras (15).
Amir then set the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium alight with a venomous opening spell of swing and pace that caught the trio of Rohit, Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina on the wrong foot, all becoming his victims. Virat Kohli weathered the Amir storm and after enduring a few anxious moments, scored 49 that steered their successful chase which ended in the 18th over with five wickets remaining.
v Sri Lanka - Won by 5 wicketsHaving recorded commanding victories in their opening two matches, India needed just a win against Sri Lanka to seal the final berth. Kohli continued his fine run with the bat to put them in the final, scoring an unbeaten 56 to guide their chase, again. After inserting Sri Lanka in, the new-ball pair of Nehra and Bumrah made their customary early breakthroughs removing Dinesh Chandimal and Shehan Jayasuriya within the Powerplay overs. The Indian bowlers made regular strikes, not allowing Sri Lankans to build partnerships - the only exception being the fifth wicket stand between Milinda Siriwardana and Chamara Kapudegera for 45 runs - the top two scorers in their innings who drove them to a fighting 138/9.
Despite Nuwan Kulasekara's early blows that sent the Indian openers Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan back to the dug-out within the first four overs, the middle-order came good with Kohli scoring yet another unbeaten fifty to take them over the line.
Yuvraj Singh also seemed to return to his old self after looking rusty since making his comeback to the Indian side. He scored an 18-ball 35 that included three boundaries and three typical Yuvraj sixes. India completed their chase in the final over with Kohli hitting the winning boundary.
v UAE - Won by 9 wicketsIt was a dead rubber and a no contest between world's top-ranked T20I side and a lowly-ranked UAE. By the time India completed the formality, chasing down a paltry 82 runs for the loss of one wicket, they had also recorded their biggest T20I win in terms of balls remaining. UAE skipper Amjad Javed won the toss and opted to bat first. His decision fell flat as half of his side was back warming the benches by the 14th over and with just 53 runs to show for. Shaiman Anwar (43) waged a lone battle, contributing over half the final total that his other 10 team-mates could muster. Rohit scored a breezy 39 before Yuvraj was promoted at No.3 scoring an unbeaten 25 as India finished the league stage of the tournament unbeaten.