India wins their seventh Asia Cup title beating Bangladesh by 3 wickets

India beat Bangladesh by three wickets in the final match of the 2018 Asia Cup at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday (September 28). With this triumph, the ‘Men in Blue’ snatched the trophy for the seventh time in 14 events. It was bad luck for team Bangladesh. They reached the Asia Cup final third time in the last four seasons and each time handed a defeat by a narrow margin.

India’s stand-in captain, Rohit Sharma, won the toss and invited Bangladesh to bat first. Riding on Liton Das’ maiden ODI century, the Tigers scored 222 runs losing all wickets in 48.3 overs. The right-handed batsman scored 121 runs off 117 balls. In his innings, he hit 12 fours and two sixes. He made open with Mehidy Hasan Miraz who scored 32 runs before being run out. The opening pair made a 120-run partnership. However, apart from these two players, only Soumya Sarkar could reach the double figure as he scored 33 runs. Because of the poor performances of the middle-order batsmen including Mushfiqur Rahim, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun and Mahmudullah- the ‘Men in Green and Red’ failed to set a competitive score to defend. Another fact that went against Bangladesh is that they suffered three run outs. 

For India, Kuldeep Yadav claimed three wickets while Kedar Jadhav took two wickets. Both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah took one wicket each.

In reply, India reached the target in the last ball of their innings. For India, Rohit Sharma scored the highest run of 48 runs from 55 balls. Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni played useful innings of 37 and 36 runs respectively. Kedar Jadhav and Kuldeep Yadav remained not out on 23 and 5 and led their team to a thrilling three-wicket win.

For Bangladesh, Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel Hossain took two wickets each while Nazmul Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza and Mahmudullah equally shared three wickets.

Scorecard- http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/8532/scorecard/1153255/bangladesh-vs-india-final-asia-cup-2018-19

Source- https://en.prothomalo.com/sports/news/184142/Tigers-make-222-despite-Liton-ton

Asia Cup 2018: India declares a 16-man squad without Virat Kohli

Ahead of the Asia Cup 2018, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named a 16-man squad in Mumbai on Saturday. This squad will be led by Rohit Sharma because India’s regular skipper Virat Kohli has been given rest after a straining England tour. MSK Prasad, BCCI chief selector, has taken this decision considering the workload of the player. The decision will help the board to preserve some of its valuable players. Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan will be seen playing the role of vice-captain. 

Khaleel Ahmed is the only uncapped player in this squad. The 20-year-old left-arm medium pacer caught the attention of the national team selectors with his performance in the Under-19 World Cup in 2016 taking 12 wickets in three innings, including 3 for 29 against Sri Lanka in the final of the Tri-Nation Under-19 tournament in Colombo.

Ambati Rayudu makes his comeback in the team after two years as the 32-year-old middle-order batsman played his last international match in June 2016. He has replaced Suresh Raina who was also replaced by the same player in the recently concluded England series.

The defending champions, India, will start their Asia Cup campaign with the match against Hong Kong on September 18 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.

India squad for Asia Cup 2018: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan (VC) , KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed.

Source- https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/rohit-sharma-to-lead-indian-squad-for-asia-cup-118090100379_1.html