Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to open innings: Asia Cup team of tournament

More Afghanistan players than those from Bangladesh or Pakistan in Paul Radley's composite XI

1 Rohit Sharma (India, captain) Without the looming shadow of the absent Virat Kohli, India’s stand-in captain showed he can be a cut above the rest, too. A tournament average of 105.66. Pawan Singh / The National

2 Shikhar Dhawan (India) The left-hander plays the game with such joie-de-vivre. He was back at his free-spirited best with the bat, and held four catches in the Super Four win over Bangladesh, too. AP

3 Nizakat Khan (Hong Kong) His main effort was a stunning, everybody-take-notice 92 against India. But Hong Kong were also indebted to him for making it that far, after his cameo against UAE in the Qualifier final. Chris Whiteoak / The National

4 Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh, wicketkeeper) Faltered in the final when his team could have done with him, but he did more than anyone else to get them there, with 144 in the opener and 99 against Pakistan. AFP

5 Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan) Known as the “Afghan Sangakkara” within his country’s cricket community, Shahidi passed 50 three times, and was unbeaten three short of a century against Pakistan. AP

6 Shoaib Malik (Pakistan) He has played more than twice as many ODIs as the next most experienced player in Pakistan’s squad. It showed. He was their most reliable player, and had the second highest tournament average, after Rohit.

7 Ravindra Jadeja (India) Started the tournament playing domestic cricket in India. Ended it with his ODI career revived, after getting his chance following injury to Hardik Pandya. AFP

8 Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) Surely the most compelling limited-overs cricketer to watch in the world? Ten wickets and an economy rate – in the most high-pressure overs – of 3.72.

9 Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh) The left-armer finished tied at the top of the wicket-taking charts, alongside Rashid Khan and Kuldeep Yadav, on 10, and was the match-winner in the game against Pakistan.AFP

10 Jasprit Bumrah (India) The benchmark for how to bowl at the death. Even Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach, confessed to sitting and watching Bumrah training how to bowl yorkers.Pawan Singh / The National

11 Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan) A mere 17 years old, yet even the most seasoned campaigners are happy just to see off his overs and try to score at the other end. AFP

With the Asia Cup done and dusted following India's last-ball win against Bangladesh in Dubai on Friday night, it is time to look at which stars shone brightly in the 15th iteration of this continental tournament.

As you would expect, India will have a sizeable representation in an Asia Cup 2018 composite XI. Paul Radley has picked in his XI four players from India, three from Afghanistan, two Bangladeshi, one Pakistani and one from Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, it is hardly surprising no Sri Lankan player made the cut even though Lasith Malinga's performance in the opener against Bangladesh deserves mention.

Bangladesh have one fewer player than Afghanistan, but there is a rather simple reason for that: all three Afghanistan players deserved spots in the XI. But for a lack of experience and luck, Afghanistan could possibly have won all their Super Four matches against Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

Take a look at the slideshow above to see who made Radley's Asia Cup XI and his reasons why.

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The Cricket Pod

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More Asia Cup stories:

Mushfiqur century and Tamim bravery set Bangladesh on way to win over Sri Lanka

Afghanistan tie their game against reigning champions India to bow out of Asia Cup

In pictures: Colourful supporters of Afghanistan and Bangladesh sides in Abu Dhabi