Asia Cup 2018, final: Three things you might have missed in the first 15 overs of India's innings

After restricting Bangladesh for just 222, India were off to a decent start after Rohit Sharma took on the Bangladesh bowlers early on in the innings.

The Tigers pulled things back by dismissing the in-form batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and Ambati Rayudu cheaply in quick succession.

Skipper Rohit, batting on 47, in the company of Dinesh Karthik, who is batting on 13, will look to take India closer to their seventh Asia Cup title. At the end of 15 overs, India were 79/2, needing 144 runs to win.

Let us take a look at three things that you might have missed in the first 15 overs of the Indian innings.

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Mehidy Hasan's historic feat

Bangladesh all-rounder Mehidy Hasan created a unique feat in the Asia Cup final against India as he became the first Bangladeshi player to open the batting and bowling in the same ODI.

After their opening batsmen failed to give Bangladesh good starts in the tournament, the team management decided to open the batting with Mehidy, who looked good batting at number seven in the previous matches. The move paid dividends as Mehidy and Liton put on 120 runs and got their team off to a great start. Mehidy was dismissed for 32 as he did a fantastic job in rotating the strike when Liton was going berserk against the Indian bowlers.

Defending a total of 223, Bangladesh opened the bowling with Medhiy and with that, he became the third player in the Asia Cup after Manoj Prabhakar and Mohammad Hafeez to do so.

The return of the "Real Naagin"

India got off to a decent start in their chase as the openers, Rohit Sharma in particular, sent the bowlers on a leather hunt. Bangladesh got an early breakthrough when Nazmul Islam dismissed Shikhar Dhawan for 15 in the fifth over after the southpaw hit one straight to Soumya Sarkar at mid-off.

Following the wicket, Nazmul celebrated in his own way as he brought on his Naagin dance to give the batsman a send-off. Naagin dance is something that was started by Nazmul and became popular during the 2018 Nidahas Trophy. This is the first time the Naagin dance by Nazmul was on display during the Asia Cup.

India's worst start with the bat in the Asia Cup

Prior to the final, the Indian openers have ensured that they gave the team a great start. It was pretty evident from the fact that the lowest opening partnership for India in the tournament was 45 that came in the first game against Hong Kong.

In the final, Dhawan was dismissed for his lowest score in the tournament, 15, when he tried to hit Nazmu down the ground. A few overs later, Ambati Rayudu was caught behind off the bowling of Mashrafe Mortaza for 2.

After the first 10 overs, India were 57/2, their worst start with the bat in the ongoing tournament.