India's famed middle-order failed to counter the Afghanistan spinners as the Gulbadin Naib-led side restricted the two-time champions to a below-par 224 for eight.
With 16 runs to get in the last over, Mohammad Nabi (52 off 55) came excruciatingly close to leading his side to their maiden victory in the tournament before getting bowled out for 213.
A last over hat-trick by Mohammad Shami along with excellent death over bowling by Jasprit Bumrah saved the day for India.
“I felt slightly disappointed, it could have been much better. I was also not happy with the partnership between Kedar and Dhoni, it was very slow. We batted 34 overs of spin bowling and scored 119 runs. This was one area where we didn't look comfortable at all. There was no positive intent,” Tendulkar said.
Dhoni (24 off 36 balls) and Jadhav (31 off 48) added 57 runs off 84 balls for the fifth wicket, thus slowing down the proceedings considerably in the middle overs.
“There were more than 2-3 dot balls. After Virat got out in the 38th over and till the 45th over we hadn't scored many runs. There were not enough outings for the middle order batsmen till now and that put pressure on them. But the intent could have been much better by the middle order batsmen,” Tendulkar said.
This was the first time India's top-order failed in the tournament although skipper Virat Kohli scored 67.