ROHIT HAILS TEAM AS INDIA CLINCH RECORD SEVENTH ASIA CUP
India held their nerves to beat Bangladesh by three wickets in the topsy-turvy nail-biting inal of the Asia Cup to lift the prestigious title for the record seventh time in Dubai on Friday.
After skittling out Bangladesh for 222, India knocked down the winning run off the last ball of the match after surviving a few anxious moments that left the crowd on their toes.
India needed six off the last over with Kedar Jadhav and Kuldeep Yadav at the crease. Mashrafe Mortaza gave the ball to Mahmudullah.
He conceded two singles off the first two deliveries bringing the equation down to four needed off four. Yadav took a couple off the next ball to tilt the game in India’s favour. Mahmudullah too refused to give up and bowled a dot ball again making it two needed off last two deliveries.
Yadav failed to connect the penultimate delivery but took a single that levelled the score. Now Bangladesh could hope for a tie that would take the game into Super Over.
All fielders were called inside the circle, except one to stop that single, which was to decide the fate of 1.5 billion people — combined population of the two countries.
But Jadhav kept his cool, held his nerves and managed to steal that single to hand India their seventh continental title.
After retaining the title, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma commended the way his team played throughout the tournament. India clinched the title unbeaten.
“We played some good cricket throughout the tournament and this is the reward of all the hard work that we have put in.
“This was a pressure game and we have been through such situations before but credit goes to the guys in the middle to handle the pressure and take us over the line. It was a fantastic effort,” he added.
Rohit also praised Bangladesh for their fighting spirit in a do-ordie contest.
“We cannot take the credit away from Bangladesh the way they played. They put us under pressure in the last 10 overs,” said the stand-in captain.
“It wouldn’t be easy if we didn’t have the support of the all the players so I am really proud of the boys,” the India skipper said praising his team-mates.
Earlier, while chasing relatively an easier target, India were off to a decent start. Both the openers added 34 for the first wicket in just 4.3 overs. Dhawan, who was the highest scorer in the tournament, was sent back to the pavilion by Nazmul Islam, who had him caught by Sarkar.
Rayudu’s struggle with the bat continued as he was dismissed for two. Rohit and Kartik shared a 37-run stand for the third wicket, before the captain gifted away his wicket to Bangladesh. He was caught on the boundary lines on 41, by Islam off Hossain.
Rohit’s dismissal exposed an unsettled fragile Indian middle- order sans Virat Kohli. Middleorder has been a problem for India for almost last two years. They have been trying different combinations to get it right but nothing seems to be working even with Kohli in the fold.
The responsibility of taking India home was again on MS Dhoni’s shoulders. He knuckled down to the task of rebuilding the innings. Dhoni and Karthik shared a 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket to pull India out of the mess. But Mahmudullah once again brought Bangladesh back into the game by trapping Karthik.
After the dismissal of Dhoni, a resurgent Bangladesh started fancying their chances. They did try to intimidate Indian batsmen with some close fielding and loud appeals. Jadhav was also retired hurt that added fuel to the fire, before Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar played sensibly to take India close to the target. But when India needed just 10-odd runs with five wickets in hand, they lost two wickets within a span of two runs that rekindled Bangladesh’s hopes.
Earlier, batting first, Bangladesh got off to a flying start as the opening duo of Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan Mirza added 120 runs for the first wicket in 20 overs. Das was in sublime form as he showed a lot of aggression and class both.
When Bangladesh reached the 100-run mark, Das had scored 73 of those runs. He reached his maiden century with a single off Jadhav in 28th over with 145 runs on the board. His innings was studded with 12 boundaries and two huge sixes.
Bangladesh failed to capitalise on a good start and spurned the chance to post a fighting total. Bangladesh’s middle order, which has been their strength so far, crumbled like a stack of playing cards. They lost five wickets within a span of 31 runs.
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza praised the bowlers, saying: “We bowled really well. Our pacers did a great job throughout the tournament. We gave a very tough time to our rivals and fought till the last ball,” he added. He also rued the batting collapse after the openers gave them a solid platform.
“I think we fell short of 40-50 runs. We could have scored 270280 even 300 with the kind of start that we got. We could not capitalise on that platform and lost too many wickets by playing reckless shots and to silly runouts,” he added.
Bangladesh lost all their 10 wickets in 102 runs after a 120-run opening partnership. After the dismissal of Mirza, no batsman could stand the onslaught of the Indian spinners.
It was Jadhav who started the skid and brought India back into the game after Bangladesh openers shared a century stand. He had Mirza caught by Rayudu to give India its first breakthrough.
Three overs later, Chahal trapped Imrul Kayes, who scored 70 in the only match that he played in the tournament, to give Bangladesh another jolt. Mushfiqur Rahim, the centurion of the first match against Sri Lanka, played a lofted shot against Jadhav but could manage to find a fielder in deep-midwicket, where Bumrah did not make any mistake.
In the next over, Mohammad Mithun fell prey to a suicidal runout. In a bid to steal a cheeky single he was found just short of the crease when Jadeja collected the ball in the mid-wicket and threw it straight into the hands of Chahal, who dismantled the bails.
Suddenly Bangladesh were pushed on the backfoot and needed someone to support Das, who was waging a lone battle at the other end. Mahmudullah could also not last longer and was holed out to Bumrah off Yadav to leave Bangladesh in tatters. Soumya Sarkar added 37 runs with Das in a bid to revive the faltering innings and took the score to 188/5.
But as soon as the dust seemed to have settled down, Das was stumped by a very agile Dhoni off Yadav. After his dismissal, it opened the floodgates for the Indian bowlers, who were waiting to pound on the lower order. Sarkar, who was the second highest scorer after Das, also lost his wickets to a runout, while trying to take a single that never existed.
Nazmul also faled to make it to the crease and was sent back to the pavilion with a direct hit by substitute Manish Pandey. Bhumrah rattled the stumps of Rubel as Bangladesh’s innings folded for 222 in 48.3 overs.