Asia Cup 2025: 'Confident of reaching the final' - Saif Hassan after Bangladesh's victory over Sri Lanka

Bangladesh's Saif Hassan has expressed optimism for his team to get to the final of Asia Cup 2025 after an enthralling four-wicket win in their first game of the Super Four stage on Saturday, September 20. Hassan secured the Player of the Match award for his 61-run knock and a couple of catches.

The 26-year-old spin-bowling all-rounder also conceded that the team will be aiming to take things one step at a time rather than switching attention directly to the ultimate prize. The Tigers are scheduled to face India and Pakistan on September 24 and September 25, respectively.

"Yes, definitely we are confident of reaching the final. Before coming here, everyone believed that we would play the final. We are one step ahead and still there are two more matches for us, and our next focus is only on the next match. Definitely, one should dream and one should dream big but we should proceed step by step. Our next focus will be fully on the match against India and the match after that will be seen later," Hassan was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Bangladesh have never won the Asia Cup so far, having emerged as runners-up of the competition thrice (2012, 2016 and 2018). Winning even one of their next two encounters could well guarantee a berth in the summit clash for the Tigers.

Speaking of the clash against Sri Lanka, there were multiple players from Bangladesh who stepped up. Mahedi Hasan (2/25 in 4 overs) and Mustafizur Rahman (3/20 in 4 overs) did a commendable job at restricting the flow of runs and keeping Sri Lanka to 168/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Apart from Hassan (61 off 45), Towhid Hridoy (58 off 37) played a vital knock too.