While the cricket fraternity was waiting for an India-Pakistan final in Asia Cup 2018, Bangladesh player perfect party poopers by stunning the Men in Green in their final Super Four match on Wednesday.
India and Bangladesh will now be squaring off in Friday's final, which will be a repeat of the 2016 Asia Cup title match.
Six-time champions India are firm favourites to win their seventh continental crown but Bangladesh cannot be ruled out and they showed why in Tuesday's match against Pakistan despite being severely affected by injury concerns.
India have been unbeaten in the tournament, the only team to do so. After resting five of their key players against Afghanistan, an MS Dhoni-led side played out a tie in their final Super Four match on Wednesday.
Captain Rohit Sharma, opener Shikhar Dhawan, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah were the ones rested for the Afghanistan encounter. All five of them will make their way back into the playing XI.
Middle-order batsman Manish Pandey failed to make use of the opportunity against Asghar Afghan's men and thus India are likely to retain Dinesh Karthik in the XI.
Ambati Rayudu, who has been consistent (scoring 173 runs at 57.67) has made a case for himself and is likely to be part of the setup even after captain Virat Kohli returns after the Asia Cup.
All eyes will be on the spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, YuzvendraChahal and Ravindra Jadeja as they will be expected to rest the Bangladesh batting unit, which lacks experience in the absence of injured Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan.
Can Bangladesh cope up without Tamim, Shakib?
Bangladesh, on the other hand, are likely to retain the playing XI that won them the crush encounter against Pakistan.
Despite opener Soumya Sarkar, who had replaced young Nazmul Shanto, failing against Pakistan, the seasoned campaigner is likely to retain his place in the side.
In the absence of Shakib, who is their premier spinner, Mahmudullah will be expected to chip in with a few overs. In fact, he had finished with figures of 38 for 1 after bowling his full quota of 10 overs against Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Mustafizur Rahman, who seems to have hit peak form, will be key to Bangladesh's chances, given Indian batsmen's perennial struggle against left-arm pacers.
Pitch and conditions - Asia Cup 2018 final
Bangladesh will be heading to Dubai from Abu Dhabi where conditions weren't as sluggish as at the former venue. Both captains would be preferring to bat second as teams chasing have had a better record in the ongoing tournament.
However, the luxury of having runs on the board in a final may lure both the captains into sending the opposition in after the toss.
India vs Bangladesh - Probable playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah.
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Liton Das (wk), Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman
