What's your call on the..?

Question

http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/27755-Cricket-Asia-Cup-Beckons-For-India-Pakistan-and-Sri-Lanka

The forthcoming Asia Cup is set to be a hotly-contested affair with Subcontinental giants India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka pitting their wits against Test newbies Bangladesh and minnows Hong Kong and UAE.

But who will take the trophy home?

Answer 1

India or Sri Lanka

Answer 2

The forthcoming Asia Cup will be won by India.

Answer 3

I will say India

but I a hoping for a tough competition from Bangladesh, Hong Kong and UAE in the series

Answer 4

I feel that India will prevail but Sri Lanka will put up a good fight!

Pakistan and Bangladesh will fight it out for third place. Bangladesh may surprise and beat Pakistan - Pakistan are in more disarray than a mathematician a cross-word convention.

Answer 5

I feel it will be a India-Sri Lanka final, and India will win it in the end.  It is the only logical conclusion going by current form and team strengths on paper.

Answer 6

Pakistan

Answer 7

There was no point in having minnows be in Asian cup. But

their purpose is either to get thrash or be thrashed.

Given many players are coming out of 20/20 format game which

is completely different mental attitude. I am hoping they all will

recover quickly from 20/20 mold to ODI.....there by seeing some

great performances.

Given the performances over the last year, SL and India should

meet in the finals. But before this happens one needs to check

the performances from the Kitply cup.

I think if Indian team plays as they claim to be - then they should

beat SL in the finals.

Answer 8

Can anyone tell me what the point of having UAE and Hong Kong in this tournament!! These 2 teams will get thrashed by a HUGE amount in the 2 games they play! How does that help the development of the countries!! only God knows.

Ok so the super 4's will consist of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India will be the favourites, although you cant count out Sri Lanka or Pakistan.

Pakistan will be at home, so they will have the advantage there BUT it doesnt matter that much cos all sub-continent pitches play relatively the same!. Pakistan will need Sohail Tanvir to take most of the wickets, because they havent got much bowling depth. The bulk of there runs will come from the "Big 3" Younus Khan, Yousuf and Misbah. If 2 out of these 3 batsmen have a good tournament then Pakistan could win

India will missing some key batsmen, Tendulkar will be missing the tournament!! and i dont know if Harbhajan will be playing either. Much will depend on the new (BUT talented) middle-order batsmen. India's bowling line-up is full of wicket takers, so if India set a good total, then they will be always favourites to defend it.

Sri Lanka are an excellent ODI team, BUT they will have no confidence (they have barely won an ODI series for years) again i dont know if Murali will be playing, BUT Sri Lanka are a much better side with him, what will be interesting is if Mendis and Murali bowl together that could be a lethal combination. Malinga is very inconsistent, BUT on his day can be a genuine wicket taker. Sri Lanka's batting will need to improve if they have hopes of winning the tournament, they are not getting scores of 275+ reguarly enough to win major series. Much AGAIN will depend on Jayawardena, Jayasuriya and Sangakarra!. If any of these 3 batsmen has an outstanding series, then the opposition should be worried.

Bangladesh will rely heavily on Ashraful and Aftab (as always) and also there trio of spinners, who can be worrying if the conditions suit them.

Final- India vs Sri Lanka- India win by 35 runs

In conclusion i think India's team is too strong not to win in a longer tourmanent like the Asia cup, where you get more than one opportunity to make the final!. India's batting line-up should get runs and India's bowling attack should get wickets