Sri Lanka's cricket has proved a point to the world with their sixth Asia Cup title after his unbeaten 71 set up a commanding 23-run win over Pakistan.
Fast bowler Pramod Madushan (4-34) and Wanindu Hasaranga (3-27) shared seven wickets between them to bowl out Pakistan for 147 while chasing 171 in Dubai.
Earlier the left-handed Rajapaksa put on a key 58-run stand for the sixth wicket with Hasaranga, who hit 36, to help Sri Lanka to 170-6 after being in trouble at 58-5.
Sri Lanka, who had to abandon plans to host the competition due to political unrest, bounced back from an embarrassing opening defeat by Afghanistan to win the tournament, a curtain-raiser for next month's T20 World Cup in Australia. "We always wanted to show the whole world (what we can do)," said man of the match Rajapaksa. "Some decades back we had some sort of aggression in our side and we wanted to create those moments again.