Peaking at the right time

As India lifted the Asia Cup trophy without losing a single match in the tournament, skipper MS Dhoni said they were well on track for the World Twenty20, beginning on Tuesday.

India were dominant in their win against Bangladesh in the final, chasing 121 with eight wickets in hand and seven balls to spare. Dhoni himself finished the match with a six off A Amin Hossain and he said, the top order with their superb show is making it easy for the side. 

“Thanks to top-oder batsmen. They have done the bulk of the job, the lower order batsmen just go and do what is needed after that. It’s looking very good now, we are on track for the World T20,” Dhoni said at the post match presentation. Dhoni said paceman Jasprit Bumrah and young all-rounder Hardik Pandya are making the side formidable. 

“Jasprit, the beauty is that he can bowl yorkers, if you don’t have the yorker you have to try a lot of other deliveries, his slightly different action also helps him a bit. Hardik can bowl a few overs for us, so if he can give us four in T20s, with his batting and fielding he is a great package,” he said. 

Dhoni also praised Yuvraj Singh for adjusting well to his changed batting position. “Looking at this team it is tough to give Yuvi the no.4 slot, but he has adjusted.  We have 13-14 players they are all match-winners, that is the beauty of the side, everyone is taking responsibility to finishing the game. It is important to get a settled combination. 

That’s what we have. We are on track for T20 World Cup,” he said. Man-of-the-match Shikhar Dhawan, who struck 60, said it was a “special” knock for him. “It’s special. The best thing is that we won. As a team we have worked hard. 

We are peaking at the right time. We were talking while chasing runs. We were comfortable during the chase, never felt the pressure. We were under control,” Dhawan said. Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said his team go into the World T20 with lot of confidence. “It’s upsetting that we couldn’t win the final but congratulations to the boys for making it this far. 

They played really well, we have exciting batsmen and bowlers, hopefully this team will carry on from here. We have a lot of confidence, we have to qualify first,” he said. Virat Kohli said it was a tricky situation out there. 

“Rohit getting out early made it tricky but credit to Shikhar for the way he batted. He delivered when the team needed the most. The 94 stand was the game changer,” he said. 

India’s Team Director Ravi Shastri said he motivated the team to get revenge for their ODI series defeat here. “I just told them it’s a final, enjoy it. Remember the celebrations Bangladesh did when they beat us, so just get the job done,” he said.