Asia Cup 2018: Final, India vs Bangladesh- Who Said What

In the end, Jadhav showed commitment and came back to score the winning runs.

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Mashrafe Mortaza
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Mashrafe Mortaza. (Photo Source: ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images)

The final of the 2018 Asia Cup in Dubai turned out to be a humdinger as India and Bangladesh tried their hearts out, however, it was Rohit Sharma’s men who stormed to their seventh championship with a three-wicket victory. The Tigers gave their opponents a run for their money and unfortunately, fell short of winning their maiden multi-nation tournament.

Liton Das scores big

After India won the toss and elected to bowl first, the Bangladeshi openers Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz got off to a resounding start with a partnership of 120 runs from 125 deliveries. Liton, after some lacklustre outings in the event, came into his own and went on to notch his maiden ODI century. Mehidy lent him appropriate support with a knock of 32 runs from 59 balls.

The stand was eventually broken by Kedar Jadhav with the wicket of Mehidy, who tried to cut the ball through the covers. Thereafter, the Tigers went into a slump and lost wickets at regular intervals. Das was nipped out by Kuldeep for 121 runs and Bangladesh were bowled out for 222 in 48.3 overs. Apart from Liton and Mehidy, only Soumya Sarkar went into double figures with 33 runs.

India survive a massive scare

The run-chase wasn’t expected to be a hard grind by any means, but Nazmul Islam picked up Shikhar Dhawan early to jolt India. Ambati Rayudu floundered, but the body blow came in the form of Rohit Sharma’s dismissal by Rubel Hossain. However, MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik, cobbled together a priceless stand of 54 runs from 84 deliveries to bring India back into contention.

To India’s dismay, Mahmudullah and Mustafizur Rahman removed Karthik and Dhoni in quick succession to bring the match into the balance. In the meantime, Jadhav pulled his hamstring and had to walk off. It was up to Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to shepherd India. In the end, Jadhav showed commitment and came back to score the winning runs.

Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladesh captain, said

I hope we won a lot of hearts. We fought till the last ball, but we made a lot of mistakes on the field today. We bowled really well, particularly if we made 240+. We asked the batsmen to make at least 260, but at the end of the day the bowlers did really well. I wanted to bowl the quicks first, because I wanted to restrict the runs because they were going after us. We didn’t want the spinners to be charged so I bowled out the fast bowlers.

Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain, said

We played some good cricket throughout the tournament and this is the reward of all the hardwork throughout the tournament. I have been part of games like this before and credit to the guys in the middle to handle the pressure and to cross the finishing line was a fantastic effort. You have to give some credit to Bangladesh. They put us under pressure in the first 10 overs. We thought if the ball got older, the spinners would do the work for us.

It was important to keep it tight and we have done that well throughout the tournament. If you have a team like that, the captain will always look good. It wouldn’t be easy if we don’t have the supprt of the remaining 10 players, so I am rally proud of the boys. I would like to thank the crowd, who have come out in huge numbers to support us throughout the tournament and I’m sure they’re going back extremely pleased.

Shikhar Dhawan, the Man of the tournament, said

Yeah, I enjoyed this tournament. Fantastic final. Good tournament for me, enjoyed my batting, and hope to continue the same way. I enjoy playing it in a cool and matured manner. I was playing more calmly this time, and I want consistency and elegance at the same time. Rohit and I keep switching the aggressor’s role sometimes, and I congratulate him for having a fantastic Asia Cup too.

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