Neither Asia Cup title nor reaching the final has been possible for Bangladesh. But the Tigers have completed this mission by defeating the mighty India by 6 runs. After the Asia Cup mission, Shakib Al Hasan returned home today.
Bangladesh won two matches against Afghanistan and India in this 50 over format tournament. The Bangladesh cricket team led by Shakib Al Hasan won against Afghanistan in the group stage and India in their last match in the Super Four stage.
The start of this year’s Asia Cup was not good for Bangladesh. After losing to Sri Lanka, the team was worried about reaching the Super Four. But in their second match in the group stage, Shakib-Mushfiq did not care about Afghanistan. Disciples of Hathuru Singh confirmed the place of Super Four by defeating the Afghans by a large margin.
But Bangladesh could not take advantage of Super Four. Their opponents in the first match of the last four were Pakistan. The Tigers lost to the host Pakistan by a big margin of 7 wickets. After that, Bangladesh lost from Sri Lanka by 21 runs in the second match and were already knocked out of the race for the finals of the tournament. And finally got a consolation win against India.
Bangladesh failed to perform as expected in the first two matches in the Super Four phase. However, the Tigers have proved their ability against India. Bangladesh made six changes in the match against five changes in the Indian team. Bangladesh finally won by six runs by showing mental strength while holding the nerve pressure. The Tigers returned home after finishing the season with the all-round leadership of Shakib Al Hasan.
Bangladesh team scored 265 runs for 8 wickets in the stipulated 50 overs in fifty overs by Shakib and Hriday when they came to bat at the beginning of the match against India. In response, India’s innings was reduced to 259 runs after losing all the wickets. After that, no other team remained undefeated in this year’s Asia Cup.
(September 16/MM)