Bangladesh will miss Shakib and Tamim in the Asia Cup final: Mashrafe Mortaza

Bangladesh, yesterday, made their way to their third final of the Asia Cup, beating Pakistan by 37 runs in their last Super 4 match at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The Tigers put forth a target of 240, which turned out to be a far cry for the Men in Green. Bangladesh are now scheduled to play the final tomorrow against India at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

In the meantime, Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladeshi captain, reckons that his team would miss the services of Tamim Iqbal and ace all-round cricketer Shakib Al Hasan in the final of the event. Tamim developed a wrist injury in the opening match against Sri Lanka after which he was ruled out.

I was lucky that I didn’t drop my catch

Shakib came into the event with a finger injury and he aggravated the same during the Tigers’ second Super 4 match against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi itself. While Mortaza sounded concerned by the absence of the two stalwarts, he also mentioned that Bangladesh will go out all guns blazing against the Men in Blue.

“We always know that India are a serious side and the number one side the world. We still need to improve a bit of our batting and bowling. We will be missing Shakib (Al Hasan) and Tamim (Iqbal) but the boys have shown character and one match to go, and hopefully, the boys will play hard,” Mortaza was quoted as saying after the match against Sarfraz’s men.

During the match, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun scored 99 and 60 runs respectively to build a partnership of 144 runs for the fourth wicket. Mortaza lauded the duo for their impressive performances. Moreover, he also talked about his team’s improving fielding standards. Mortaza himself took a stunning catch inside the circle to get rid of Shoaib Malik.

“Mushi (Mushfiqur Rahim) and (Mohammad) Mithun batted really well. I was lucky that I didn’t drop my catch, because Shoaib Malik was in such good form, but all over the fielding was really good. Long time we haven’t seen this quality of fielding in our time, so hopefully the boys can understand the value of good fielding,” he added.

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