3 reasons why Bangladesh can win the 2018 Asia Cup
The cricket-crazy fans of India and Pakistan were getting ready for a high-voltage final clash between the two nations which would define the fate of the trophy's destination, but Bangladesh pulled off something miraculous. They outplayed Pakistan in a thrilling encounter at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi to book their place in the finals.
After losing three early wickets, Bangladeshi batters showed great character to come back into the game. The same goes for the bowlers, who were able to take wickets whenever an intimidating partnership was building. Now, they have an uphill task as they will have to battle for supremacy rights against India, the most threatening side in the Asian cricketing circuit. However, given their stunning performances thus far in the tournament, only a fool would think the final is as good as over and India have lifted the coveted trophy. Here are three reasons why Bangladesh can win the 2018 edition of the Asia Cup.
#3 Very deep batting order
The Bangladeshi top-order has struggled in the tournament in the absence of veteran Tamim Iqbal. Liton Das, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque and Soumya Sarkar have all failed to make a mark. However, their deficiencies have been perfectly covered up by Bangladesh's strong middle and lower-middle order.
Mushfiqur Rahim is in the form of his life. The wicket-keeper has scored 297 runs so far in this tournament at an astonishing average of over 70. Mahmudullah has amassed over 150 runs while Mohammad Mithun has accumulated 135 runs. Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza, who has scored over 1700 ODI runs and can offer a few blows comes in at number nine for the Tigers, which speaks volumes about the incredible depth in their batting order. Even if India manage to get some early wickets, they must not repeat Pakistan's mistakes and continue to pressurize.