Asia Cup 2018 final: how India and Bangladesh reached the championship game

Also a look at the key match-ups at the Dubai International Stadium

India captain Rohit Sharma celebrates after scoring a century against Pakistan and India at the Dubai International Stadium. AFP

India take on Bangladesh at Dubai International Stadium on Friday for the right to be crowned 2018 Asia Cup winners.

India drew with Afghanistan in their final Super Four match in Dubai on Tuesday with qualification to the championship game already assured, while Bangladesh secured their passage with a convincing 37-run win over Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday thanks largely to Mushfiqur Rahim's fighting 99.

We take a look at how each team reached the final.

Route to the final

India

Group A

Beat Hong Kong by 26 runs

Beat Pakistan by eight wickets

Super Four

Beat Bangladesh by seven wickets

Beat Pakistan by nine wickets

Tied with Afghanistan

Bangladesh

Group B

Beat Sri Lanka by 137 runs

Lost to Afghanistan by 136 runs

Super Four

Lost to India by seven wickets

Beat Afghanistan by three runs

Beat Pakistan by 37 runs

Super Four – final table

(P, W, L, Tied, Pts)

1 India 3 2 0 1 5 0.863

2 Bangladesh 3 2 1 0 4 -0.156

3 Pakistan 3 1 2 0 2 -0.599

4 Afghanistan 3 0 2 1 1 -0.044

Leading run-scorers

1 Shikhar Dhawan (India), 327

2 Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh), 297

3 Rohit Sharma (India), 269

Leading wicket-takers

1 Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), 10

2 Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), 8

3= Jasprit Bumrah (India), Ravindra Jadeja (India), Kuldeep Yadav (India), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), all have taken 7

__________________

Read more:

Bangladesh captain lauds Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammed Mithin after reaching Asia Cup final

Afghanistan prove they are no 'walkover' after thrilling Asia Cup tie against India

Mahmudullah: Bangladesh top-order needs to improve ahead of Asia Cup clash with Pakistan

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma hit hundreds as India thrash Pakistan in Asia Cup

__________________

Key clashes

Rohit Sharma v Mustafizur Rahman

Stopping a man who is averaging 134.5 in the tournament so far is no easy task. But if anyone can, Mustafizur can.

Even though he was impotent when the sides met in the Super Four, Mustafizur still has good memories of playing India.

He has 13 wickets in five ODIs against them, including his career best figures, and he has dismissed Rohit in three of those games. Plus, he is on a high after his match-winning four wickets against Pakistan.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Listen to The Cricket Pod

_____________________________________________________________________________

Ravindra Jadeja v Mushfiqur Rahim

Two days before the first meeting between these two sides, Jadeja was minding his own business playing a domestic game in India.

Then Hardik Pandya suffered injury, Jadeja was flown to Dubai, rushed straight into the starting XI, and was man of the match against Bangladesh.

One of his victims was Mushfiqur. The 21 that Mushfiqur made in that game was his lowest return at what has been a highly-productive tournament for the Bangladesh wicket-keeper batsman.

Shikhar Dhawan v Mehidy Hasan

Dhawan is out on his own at the top of the run-chart for this tournament, his haul of 327 being 30 more than the next best.

That includes two centuries. Not bad for a player who many were calling for to be dropped after his horror tour of the UK.

Mehidy was miserly but wicketless in the first game between these teams, but will likely get an early crack at Dhawan if Bangladesh continue with the plan of opening the bowling with his off-spin.