India's Cup of many positives

Skipper Rohit not counting out Ashwin, says Axar may miss the first two ODIs of the Australia series

- Somshuvra Laha

This was more a World Cup rehearsal than just an Asia Cup. But the sheen no doubt would have been missing had India not gone all the way, something they have struggled to achieve in the past decade.

The loss to Bangladesh notwithstanding, the hits column far outweigh India's misses. The openers have struck form in different combinations, Kuldeep Yadav has been almost unplayable, Hardik Pandya has been an absolute workhorse with bat and ball, Mohammed Siraj has now cemented his place in the first eleven and even KL Rahul's confident return, topped by a fine century in the Super Four win against Pakistan, has largely addressed India's middle-order concerns.

Among the specialist batters, only Shreyas Iyer hasn't got much game time because of a back spasm during the Pakistan game but India captain Rohit Sharma isn't reading too much into it. "Shreyas was not available for this game because there were certain parameters that were kept for him to tick off. Today, he completed most of it," said Sharma at the post-match press conference on Sunday. "I would say 99% he should be okay as of now, but he looks good. He batted, he fielded for long hours before we came in today. So, he's looking good at this point in time. I don't think it's a worry for us."