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:

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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.

#3 Rohit Sharma (India)

Rohit Sharma led India to their seventh Asia Cup title

Throughout the Asia Cup India never felt the need for Virat Kohli, who was rested for the tournament, and the reason was India's captain for the tournament, Rohit Sharma.

India won all the matches (barring the one tie) they played in the 14th Asia Cup and it happened majorly because of India's opening pair. After Dhawan, Rohit was the top scorer in the tournament with 317 runs in 5 matches. He also had an impressive average of 105.67. He also held the record for most sixes in this edition with 13 sixes.

#4 Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh)

The Bangladesh wicket-keeper was ranked third in the list of tournament's top scorers. The 31-year-old played 5 matches and scored 302 runs with an average of 60.40 which is roughly the double of his career average (33.75). He played a major role in enabling Bangladesh to reach the final.

In the Super Four stage match against Pakistan, Bangladesh was struggling at 12/3 when Rahim came to their rescue and built a 144 run partnership with Mithun. This was undoubtedly one of the most mature and sensible innings of the tournament.

#5 Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh)

Rahman picked 4 wickets against Pakistan in the last Super Four stage match

The lead left-arm bowler of Bangladesh performed the way he was expected to and was the highest wicket-taker for them in the tournament. He played 5 matches for The Tigers and picked 10 wickets with a strike rate of 25.20.

In their victory over Pakistan in the Super Four tie, Rahman was the game changer as he snapped up 4 important wickets and secured the final spot for his team in 2018 Asia Cup. Despite losing in the final, The Tigers have shown a lot of promise in the tournament which are positive signs, one of them has to be Mustafizur.

FLOPS:

#1 Mohammad Amir (Pakistan)

Amir didn't have a great Asia Cup

A crucial reason for Pakistan missing the final of 2018 Asia Cup was its weak bowling attack, something which the Men in Green are otherwise known for. Before the start of the tournament, the 26-year-old left-arm pacer was seen as the commander-in-chief for Pakistan's Bowling attack but he performed way below expectations.

Before getting replaced by Junaid Khan, Amir played three matches for Pakistan but was unable to pick up any wicket, a stat any strike bowler would fret hearing. In the Super Four fixture against India, he conceded 41 runs with an economy rate of 8.20 runs per over which is extremely disappointing for a bowler of his calibre.

Unluckily for Amir and Pakistan, their strike bowler just did not get going and had a forgettable outing.

#2 Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan)

After Mohammad Amir, the performance of left-handed opener Fakhar Zaman was the most disturbing and distressing thing for Pakistan. He played all the 5 matches for Pakistan but scored just 56 runs with a poor average of 11.20. His scores in the tournament were -- 24,0,0,31 and 1 -- in the five matches.

#3 Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka)

Kusal Mendis got out on duck in both matches he played

Sri Lanka played only two matches in the tournament and lost both of them by huge margins of 137 and 91 runs against Bangladesh and Afghanistan, respectively. Kusal Mendis, who opened the innings for Sri Lanka, was given lbw for a duck on both occasions and therefore, he has been dropped from Sri Lanka's squad for England tour.

#4 Ihsanullah Janat (Afghanistan)

Young Afghani opener Ihsanullah Janat played 4 matches in the tournament and added a mere 71 runs with an average of 17.75. It would have done Afghanistan a lot of good if he had gotten some better starts consistently as he did in the match against Sri Lanka where he scored 45 runs. In the other 3 matches, his figures were 8,10 and 8 runs.

#5 Nazmul Hossain Shanto (Bangladesh)

The 20-year-old Bangladesh opener was first recognised for his double century in a school level ODI match. He made his debut for The Tigers in ODIs in the 2018 Asia Cup match against Afghanistan and made 7 runs. The youngster was struggling in all the three matches he played and managed to add a total of just 20 runs.