4 Reason Why India Won The Asia Cup 2018 | Sportsmonks
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4 Reason Why India Won The Asia Cup 2018

India beat Bangladesh by three wickets in a thrilling encounter to win the 2018 Asia Cup. With this win, they became the first team to win seven Asia Cup titles. The Indians went into the tournament as favourites and completely outplayed their oppositions.

Let us take a look at the reasons why India won the Asia Cup 2018.

India's opening combination

One of the main reasons why India reached the final of the Asia Cup was the form of their opening batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. There shouldn't be any doubts over the duo being the best opening combination in ODIs at the moment.

Right from the first match against Hong Kong, the duo gave flying starts to the team in every single match. Following their 45-run opening stand against Hong Kong, the two took consistency to a whole new level as they kept piling on the runs against tricky bowing units.

Against Pakistan, they put on 86 runs in the league stage, 61 against Bangladesh and a record 210 against Pakistan again, this time, in the Super Fours. In the final, they stitched together a brisk 35 runs, the lowest for India in the tournament.

Dhawan ended the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 342 runs in five innings at an average of 68.4 with the help of two centuries while Rohit was just behind his opening partner with 317 runs in five innings at an average of 105.66 with the help of one century and two fifties.

Even in the match against Afghanistan where both Rohit and Dhawan were rested, KL Rahul and Ambati Rayudu put on 110 runs for the opening wicket.
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Jasprit Bumrah's heroics

One of the least heralded reasons for India's win in the Asia Cup is the performance of Jasprit Bumrah. The fast bowler was rotated very well in the tournament and he ended with nine wickets in four games at an average of 16 and an economy of 3.67. He took a wicket every 26.1 balls, which is extremely good for any bowler.

Bumrah, with the new ball, was effective as he did not give anything away for the opposition and kept them at bay. In the death overs, he was lethal as he bowled 9.5 overs and returned with figures of 7/29 in the four matches he played in the Asia Cup.

Bumrah ended the tournament as the second leading wicket-taker, one short of the leading wicket-takers Rashid Khan and Kuldeep Yadav, in spite of playing fewer matches than the wrist spinners.
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Fantastic show by the Indian spinners

While the Indian pacers did a fantastic job with the new ball and during the death overs, the Indian spinners applied the pressure on the opposition batsmen and kept the run flow under check in the middle overs.

Kuldeep Yadav ended the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 10 wickets in six matches at an average of 23.7 and took a wicket every 35 balls. His economy of 4.08 shows how good he was for India in the Asia Cup.

With Kuldeep leading the way, Ravindra Jadeja, who replaced Hardik Pandya mid-way through the tournament, did well in his comeback tournament and ended up picking seven wickets at an average of 22.2 and an economy of 4.45. Yuzvendra Chahal also chipped in with wickets every now and then as he ended the tournament with six wickets at an economy of 4.47.

While many expected the three frontline spinners to do well, the biggest surprise with the ball came in the form of Kedar Jadhav. He was instrumental in two of India's wins in the tournament, against Pakistan and Bangladesh, and ended with six wickets at an average of 23.16 and an economy of 3.97, numbers that are impressive for a part-timer.
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Rohit Sharma's captaincy

With Virat Kohli rested for the tournament, Rohit Sharma was handed the captaincy and the Mumbai Indians captain, who has led them to three IPL titles and one CLT20, did a fantastic job.

He backed all his players and gave them the confidence by giving them a long rope in the XI. Rohit was also at his best with his field settings (assisted by MS Dhoni) and his bowling changes throughout the Asia Cup. The way he handled the spinners and Bumrah and the way he used the part-time spinner Kedar Jadhav was simply brilliant.

With this win, already a lot of Indian fans want him at the helm going into the 2019 World Cup.

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