So that brings an end to our coverage for this Asia Cup. Hope you enjoyed it. You can switch your tabs as Australia and South Africa are facing each other in the five-match series decider.
For now, this is Akshay Bhide, signing off, on behalf of my co-commentators Akshayakrishna Polya and Arijit Kundu and scorer Zeeshan Naiyer. Tata. Until next time, cheers and goodbye.
Rohit Sharma collects the trophy from Mr. Jay Shah. His second Asia Cup Trophy as a captain. The crackers lit up. The Indian side are on the podium and making their moments. Tilak Varma, the amateurish of all was asked to lift the silverware. What a moment for the Indian side and they will hope to continue the momentum in the World Cup as well. Now, the trophy is handed over to Mohammed Siraj, the player of the Match of the Final. Right behind the champions' banner now, each and every one of them. Be it the players or the backroom staff all gather together. Celebrations for the Indian side in the lead-up to the mega-event next month.
Rohit Sharma (India Captain):"A special performance. To come out and play the way we did in the final shows the character of the team. It was a great start with the bowl and clinical finish with the bat.
I was standing in the slips and something we take a lot of pride in. Our seamers have been working really hard and to be rewarded with this has been really good. It was clear in their mind and it was a clinical performance from all us. We will cherish this for a long time.
To start with, I didn't think it was going to do this much. It comes down to an individual's skills. Credit to Siraj for the way he bowled. He swung the ball both ways and it was quite pleasing to see him perform. Not to forget, Bumrah who is coming back after a long time and is bowling well. We did everything could to achieve it as a team and quite pleasing to win games.
We are really looking forward to the series coming up in India and the World Cup. In the first game against Pakistan, in pressure situations, the way Kishan and Pandya played was fantastic. Also KL and Virat with the hundreds. Gill is showing his class and is a batting freak. He has been playing really well.
Different guys have been putting their hands up and stepping up at different times. It has been pleasing to see them perform."
Rohit Sharma receives the winners cheque from Roger Binny.
Rahul Dravid, the head coach of India collects the team watches (gift) for being the winners.
Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka Captain): "Yeah see it was outstanding bowling from Mohammed Siraj. It was brilliant brilliant bowling from him. With the overcast conditions, it played a part.
Yeah, bad day, tough, tough day for us in the office. We could have tightened our technique a bit. There are a lot of positives. As I said earlier, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Kusal Mendis how they batted in the middle period against spin, the way Charith Asalanka handled the pressure, so I believe, these three batters will score well in good batting conditions. We know how to come out of tough situations. And about Dunith Wellalage, Matheesha Pathirana, and Pramod Madushan, I think they have been doing well and will be doing better for the World Cup and in the future.
Thanks at last, I would love to thank the supporters who came in numbers. Sorry to all of you that we could not win. We love you all. Also, lastly, congratulations to the Indian team for winning the tournament."
Chris Silverwood, the head coach of Sri Lanka collects the team watches (gift) for being the runners up. Dasun Shanaka gets summoned to collect the runners-up cheque.
The RPS, Colombogroundstaff gets awarded by Jay Shah (USD 50,000). The head curator strolls in and gets the cheque.