Cricket Betting: T20 Asia Cup Final Preview
The revamped Asia Cup heads to a scintillating climax as hosts Bangladesh hope to topple the favourites India at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Sunday.
Fans would have loved to see an India vs Pakistan final but it is fair to say that the two best teams of the tournament reached the final. The recent rivalry between these two sides – which even saw tensions boiling over onto the pitch – gives a new dimension to this match.
Bangladesh may have made giant strides in 50-over cricket starting with the World Cup, but their performance in T20s is nothing great to write about; until this tournament, that is. After starting with a heavy loss against India, the hosts improved with every game to raise fans’ hopes of a first Asia Cup win.
The consistency of Sabbir Rahman in the top order is a big boon to Bangladesh who also have Mahmudullah’s consistency in the middle order to bank on. The loss of bowling mainstay Mustafizur is a blow but their bowling is still strong with Mashrafe Mortaza and Taskin Ahmed leading the ranks.
For their opponents, the tournament so far has been near-perfect. With the exception of an initial burst by Mohammad Amir against Pakistan, the Indians have been consistent and clinical with their performances. They haven’t been stretched thus far, with the middle order – MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja – hardly required with the bat.
After a long time, India had a balanced look to its bowling with Hardik Pandya providing quality back-up to Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah. With Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja stifling the opponents in the middle overs, the hosts will be wary of getting bogged down too much.
The beauty of the format is such that it gives a great chance to the hosts to move away from the huge loss in the first game. And the rising graph of Bangladesh should worry the visitors considering the huge crowd support they would garner. No doubt India are bookies’ favourite but the value on a Bangladeshi win is enticing at odds of $3.10 at CrownBet.
Rohit Sharma is critical for India and could end up top scoring for them at odds of $4.00 at CrownBet. Ashwin would be hoping to end up among the wickets at he’s offered at odds of $4.00 at CrownBet to be India’s best bowler. For Bangladesh, Sabbir and Al-Amin could be the top dogs.
The format change worked wonders for the tournament as the interest increased exponentially considered to the old 50-over format. Will Bangladesh treat its home fans to one final spectacle and end up champions? Or will the uber-consistent India side-step another neighbour?
