Defending champions Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first against India in the final of the Asia Cup in Colombo today.

Rohit Sharma's India face underdogs Sri Lanka in Sunday's Asia Cup final, a crucial momentum-builder heading into next month's ODI World Cup.

Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana has been ruled out of the Asia Cup final against India due to an injury, captain Dasun Shanaka confirmed Saturday.

India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in Colombo for Tuesday's Asia Cup Super Four clash.

Sri Lanka Cricket slashed ticket prices for the Asia Cup by up to 95 percent on Sunday after costs were hiked 40-fold and matches were played in near-empty stadiums.

While skipper Shakib Al Hasan pointed to the inability of putting on a big opening stand as one of the reasons behind his team’s 21-run defeat against Sri Lanka in their crucial Super Four encounter, the performance in Saturday's match practically summed up Bangladesh’s inconsistent batting performance throughout the Asia Cup.

Bangladesh’s wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim is slated to return to the country after the match against Sri Lanka, team management sources have confirmed to The Daily Star.

Bangladesh cricket team left Kandy for Colombo early on Friday Morning and are scheduled to take a chartered flight to Lahore in Pakistan with their Asia Cup campaign hanging in the balance.

Sri Lanka yesterday paid back another $100 million of the $200 million it took from Bangladesh in a currency swap agreement two years ago, a top official of Bangladesh Bank said today.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is known to have a keen eye for talent and the match-winning display by Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana against Bangladesh at the Asia Cup on Thursday shows the former India captain's reputation is well earned.

Bangladesh ODI skipper Shakib Al Hasan shrugged off talks about a rivalry between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka when it came to the Asia Cup as the all-rounder acknowledged the exciting cricket that this particular contest brings.

Sri Lanka have been hit by injuries to key bowlers as they named their 15-member squad for Asia Cup 2023.

Bangladesh national cricket team reached Sri Lankan capital Colombo on Sunday afternoon after flying out from Dhaka in the morning ahead of the Asia Cup.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan expects his team to do well in the upcoming Asia Cup. However, the all-rounder said he would be taking every match separately rather than putting any specific target for his team to achieve in the tournament.

Fast bowler Haris Rauf led a pace assault on Afghanistan with a career-best five-wicket haul to give Pakistan a thumping 142-run victory in the first one-day international in Sri Lanka's Hambantota on Tuesday.

The second instalment may come by Aug 30

Bangladesh had to be satisfied with a silver medal in under-17 category of Badminton Asia -- South Asia Regional Junior Championship with a 3-2 matches defeat against Sri Lanka in the mixed final in Kathmandu, Nepal today.

According to reports, Hasaranga had written to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), expressing his desire to play only white-ball cricket and giving his best in the two formats for the national team moving forward. The board has apparently accepted his request as he is officially not a Test cricketer anymore.

Ten teams will feature in the 46-day tournament, to be held across 10 cities. Along with Ahmedabad, the other host cities include Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune.

However, according to broadcasting channel Star Sports, all the matches will now take place at Indian time 3:00pm and Bangladesh time 3.30pm.