India dominates Asian pack

With temperatures soaring over 40 degrees through the day, this 14th edition of the Asia Cup had players sweating it out in the arid deserts of UAE – all for the passion of the game and pride in representing one's country. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) changed the rules this year – unlike the previous editions, the number of participating teams was increased to six. Five teams – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan earned direct qualification based on their ICC rating point, whereas the sixth spot was reserved for the winner of the qualifiers. Surprisingly, minnows Hong Kong came ahead of UAE, Oman, Nepal, Malaysia and Singapore. The six teams were divided into two groups – Group A included India, Pakistan and Hong Kong; and Group B had Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. As expected, Hong Kong was knocked out of the Super Four race from Group A. But Group B scripted a different story – quite unexpectedly, Bangladesh and Afghanistan defeated the mighty Lankans comprehensively.

Match 1: India vs Bangladesh

Winning the toss, Rohit Sharma let Bangladesh bat first. India was out of their comfort zone with Hardik Pandya unavailable following a back injury and the team's favourite composition jolted. Ravindra Jadeja was back in the side after 15 months. He announced his arrival with an incredible spell of 10-0-29-4, picking the wickets of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahman. New ball bowlers (Bumrah and Bhuvaneshwar) rocked them early with wickets at regular intervals – Bangladesh never seemed to pose a threat to India. Chasing a modest target of 174, openers Dhawan and Rohit, yet again, ensured that the run chase was just a walk in the park. India sealed a comprehensive seven-wicket victory.

Match 2: Pakistan vs Afghanistan

Afghanistan's rise as a cricketing nation has drawn international attention. Mohammad Nawaz, coming as the first change bowler for Pakistan, sent the top three Afghan batsmen packing. But, Shahidi (97*) along with skipper Asghar Afghan (67) showed great resistance to Pakistan's pace, stretching the total to 257. Midway through the run chase, it seemed that Pakistan would run away with the game until Najibullah's throw found Imam-ul-Haq (80) short of the crease – ending a 154-run stand. Afghanistan chipped in with regular wickets and stretched the game with 10 runs required off the last over. Shoaib Malik (51*), however, eclipsed Afghanistan's ecstasy.

Match 3: India vs Pakistan

Only three days before, India had demolished Pakistan by eight wickets in the group stage. The script appeared quite identical when the teams met for the second time in the tournament. Riding on Malik's second consecutive half-century, Pakistan posted a paltry target of 238 – little better than the group game. Rohit Sharma (111*) and Shikhar Dhawan (114), began with their guns blazing and carried India to the other side with over 10 overs in hand. In the meantime, the duo's partnership of 210 runs was the second best for the country against Pakistan, ensuring India a nine-wicket victory over their arch-rivals.

Match 4: Afghanistan vs Bangladesh

A lot was at stake for both the teams going into the match. Opting to bat first, Bangladesh was rocked early with two wickets in the first five overs. Liton Das (41) and Rahim (33) steadied the innings with a gritty 63-run partnership but the fall of quick wickets meant that the Afghans were all over Bangladesh. Mahmadullah (74) joined hands with veteran workhorse Imrul Kayes (72*) to set a respectable target of 250 for Afghanistan. With a slow start, the Afghans stumbled to cope with the required run rate. It was all down to Rashid Khan – the slogger who had to score eight runs off the final over from the Fizz. Despite performing better, Afghanistan failed to cross the final hurdle by three runs as a lack of experience came to the forefront.

Match 5: India vs Afghanistan

Though no opposition team matched up to India, Afghanistan came the closest to rattling the champions. India, already listed in the finals, had decided against playing their first choice XI. Batting first, it was a fight between Mohammad Shahzad (124) and the Indian bowlers, even though wickets kept falling on the other end. A blistering inning from Nabi (64) towards the end helped the Afghans cross the 250 mark. With a 100-run opening stand between KL Rahul (60) and Rayudu (57), yet again, India was off to a flier. The Afghan bowlers kept the line tight and courtesy a few bad umpiring decisions – wickets of MS Dhoni (8) and Dinesh Karthik (44) – they were back into the contest. Jadeja (20) only managed to score six of the seven runs required to win in the final over off Rashid Khan, with the match ending in a tie.

Match 6: Pakistan vs Bangladesh

The last game, deciding India's opposition in the finals, appeared to be a virtual semi-final. Even though Bangladesh lost a few of their mainstays, they found ways to deal with the pain. Junaid Khan's fiery opening spell shattered Bangladesh; but they rode the half-centuries from Rahim (99) and Mithun (60) before being bowled out for 239. At a time when it mattered the most, none of the Pakistani batsmen baring Imam (83) could get the better of Bangladeshi bowlers. They eventually fell short by 37 runs. Mustafizur sneaked with a four-fer, handing Bangladesh its third final in the tournament's last four editions.

The Finals: India vs Bangladesh

In a rare sighting, Bangladeshi fans had outnumbered the Indian contingent in the stands. Going into the finals, Bangladesh had some bitter memories – particularly the 2016 Asia Cup finals, where India had dug into their dreams. Batting first, Bangladesh could manage only 222 runs against a disciplined Indian attack, even though opener Liton Das (121) went on to score his first ODI hundred. As expected, India was off to a solid start, but Dhawan's wicket in the fifth over raised Bangladesh's hopes of lifting the trophy for the first time. Bangladesh chipped with wickets at desperate times and stretched the game till the last over. A 'hamstrung' Kedar Jhadav (23*) managed to crawl over the line of the ultimate delivery and handed India the title for the seventh time. This is the fifth in as many occasions that Bangladesh has bowed down to India in a knockout game – in fact, Bangladesh has never won a knockout game against any team.

This year's Asia Cup saw a revival of cricket as in the early 2000s, when teams would make their opposition run for their money despite recording a low total of just around the 250 mark. With not a single score of 300, the tournament witnessed some great bowling performances to defend the unenviable targets – as batsmen were made to toil for every run. Eventually, India, as expected, emerged as the best team in all aspects, even in the absence of Virat Kohli, to claim the championship.