Asia Cup 2018, Final: India vs Bangladesh – Five Talking Points

India won the Asia Cup 2018 for the record seventh time beating Bangladesh by three wickets in Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Friday.

The ‘Men in Blue’ played some excellent cricket along with the ‘Tigers.’ Meanwhile, a lot had happened to fall into the talking points of the day.

However, earlier in the day, the India skipper, Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first. Bangladesh’s opening duo of Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan started their innings on a good note, as they added 120 runs for the first wicket stand. However, Kedar Jadhav managed to give the first breakthrough for India picking up the wicket of Hasan.

Later, Chahal dropped a catch of Liton Das in the middle, and Das grabbed the opportunity to hit his maiden century. Meanwhile, Kuldeep was looking good from his very first over, and Dhoni was also doing his best from behind the stumps. However, the Indian bowlers rattled the middle-order batsmen picking up quick wickets. Bangladesh could only post a score of 222 runs at the end of 48.3 overs losing all their ten wickets.

Moreover, while chasing down the target, India started their innings aggressively. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan added 35 runs from just 28 deliveries. In addition to that, India lost their three wickets quickly adding only 83 runs on the board.

Meanwhile, Dhoni and Karthik held their nerves and put some runs under the belt. The duo added 54 runs for the fourth wicket and relieved some pressure in the dressing room. There was a hamstring issue in the middle with Kedar Jadhav, while Dhoni tried to attack Mustifizur, however, lost his wicket in the meanwhile.

However, Kedar had to leave the ground, as he was unable to take runs and look of his face can tell the volume of the pain. Later, Bhuvneshwar Kumar came in the middle and Jadeja batted well to help India come close towards the mark.

Meanwhile, Jadeja had to depart, as he got a thin edge off his bat. In addition to that, Bhuvneshwar Kumar lost his wicket on the very next over, as Muttafizur did the job for his nation.

However, Kedar Jadhav went into the middle with his injury and finished off in style and helped India to win the Asia Cup 2018.

Here we take a look at five talking points from India and Bangladesh game

Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan partnered brilliantly

Bangladesh new opening pair, Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan partnered brilliantly. They together added 120 runs for the first wicket. It, however, released a lot of pressure from the other batsmen and gave a ray of hope to the dressing room.

Liton Das made his maiden ODI century

Liton Das slammed his maiden century in ODI cricket, as he kept Bangladesh in the hunt for a big total against India in the Asia Cup 2018 final.

The 23-year-old played brilliantly against the Indian bowling attack, as he reached the milestone in 87 balls. His 117-ball 121 included twelve boundaries and two massive sixes. He looked quite comfortable from the very first ball of the innings and stood-alone till the 41st over.

Kuldeep Yadav bowled an excellent spell

Kuldeep was looking good from his very first over, and Dhoni was also doing his best from behind the stumps. However, in the final match of the Asia Cup 2018 Kuldeep bowled an excellent spell to rattle Bangladesh’s middle-order batsmen. He picked up the wicket of dangerman, Liton Das and later, Mahmudullah and Mortaza. His bowling figures read 10-0-45-3.

Rubel Hossain rose to the occasion

Rubel Hossain was the hero for Bangladesh. He bowled ten overs picking up two wickets and gave away just 26 runs. Rubel also bowled two maiden overs from his full quota.

He picked up the danger man Rohit who could turn the match at any point in time. Rohit had to depart scoring 48 runs, as he missed his half-century just short of two runs.

Dhoni and Karthik gave some hope in the middle

MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik were looking good to hold their nerves, and they put up some valuable runs in the middle. India lost their third wicket having just 83 runs on the board.

After that, Dhoni and Karthik looked steady on the pitch and added some valuable 54 runs for the fourth wicket. They were looking calm and composed and played a slow innings to stand till the end.