After creating a great upset by beating and eliminating the in-form Indian team from the Asia Cup tournament, Bangladesh went on to qualify for the final against Pakistan by beating another cricket giant, Sri Lanka, by a 5 wicket run chase, at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Mirpur, on Tuesday.

Pakistan has faced Bangladesh before in the tournament opener, where the Bengali tigers were just 21 runs short from winning the match.

Given the exceptional performances by the Bangladeshi team and this being their first time in an Asia Cup final, speculations are that it would be an anticipated surprise if Bangladesh manages to win this third and final match against Pakistan and take the Asia Cup home for the first time in the tournament's history.

The Green shirts, however, seem to be steady and in form but more on an individual level. The team unit has displayed satisfactory performances but still lacks that match-winning element which has been missing from the team before Misbah took over and as seen in the Pak-India match.

Captaincy will be the most critical element if Pakistan is to win this final.

The Bangladeshi's have displayed their professionalism in all their previous matches by beating the defending champions India and last tournament's finalists Sri Lanka, fair and square.

The final between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be played in the Sher-e-Bangla stadium, today, March 22 and will be televised live on National Television.

Teams

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Abdur Rehman, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Hammad Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Saeed Ajmal, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Younis Khan.

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain; wk), Abdur Razzak, Anamul Haque, Elias Sunny, Imrul Kayes, Jahurul Islam, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Nasir Hossain, Nazimuddin, Nazmul Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal. (PPI)