2018 Asia Cup: 5 Hits and flops of the tournament
Asia Cup 2018 concluded with a nerve-wracking final being played between the two neighbouring countries, India and Bangladesh. From the beginning of the tournament, everyone was expecting a final between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.
However, The Tigers outpowered the Green Brigade in a virtual semi-final that was the last match of Super Four stage -- and fixed their spot for the final. This tournament was like a rollercoaster ride for every cricket fan as it witnessed a couple of matches which went till the very last ball -- including the final.
Sri Lanka were dumped out of the tournament in the Group stage itself as they lost both their group matches and that too with a huge margin of 137 and 91 runs, the former against Bangladesh and the latter against Afghanistan.
Later in the tournament, Afghanistan surprised Bangladesh by beating them with a gigantic margin of 136 runs in the group stage to top group B.
The ultimate surprise of the tournament was the match between Bangladesh and Pakistan in the Super Four -- which was also the decider for the second finalist of the tournament. Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by 37 runs after setting a target of 240 runs.
The 2018 Asia Cup final was a repeat of the T20 Asia Cup 2016 final as India and Bangladesh locked horns. The result was same as the Men in Blue beat Bangladesh by 3 wickets and lifted the Asia Cup Trophy for a record seventh time, thereby stamping their authority in the tournament further.
Throughout the tournament, we have witnessed some stunning performances while there were also some poor performances.
Here are the 5 hits and flops of the tournament:
HITS:
#1 Shikhar Dhawan (India)
Except for the final, Shikhar Dhawan was extremely consistent for India throughout the tournament. He was the top scorer in the tournament and was rightly awarded with the Man of the Series award. Along with his opening partner Rohit Sharma, he played a major role in most of India's wins in the tournament.
Dhawan played 5 matches and added 342 runs with an impressive strike rate of 102.09 and was third-best in terms of average with 68.40. He also hit the maximum number of boundaries in the tournament i.e. 44 fours and 6 sixes.
#2 Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)
Afghanistan all-rounder Rashid Khan, who turned 20 during the tournament, was the highest wicket taker of the 14th Asia Cup. The spin maestro played 5 matches and took wickets equal to half his age i.e. 10 with a strike rate of 27.70. He was also the most economical bowler for Afghanistan after Mujeeb Ur Rahman.