The Asia Cup final between India and hosts Bangladesh has got tempers flared across borders between the two sets of fans, but the players are impervious to the nationalistic tinge the encounter is being tinged with, according to The Telegraph.
On Saturday, a jovial scene was played out at the hotel where the players are putting up, the Le Meridien, about 6 kilometres from the Shere-e-Bangla Stadium where the final will be played on Sunday. 22-year-old Soumya Sarkar got an autographed shirt from his idol Yuvraj Singh, and Shakib al Hasan joined the two cricketers in having an enjoyable conversation.
Soumya got his senior player Shakib to convey his request to Yuvraj as he was leaving the restaurant of the hotel, too shy to ask himself. At being told, Yuvraj bellowed, "Bula do Soumya ko (Call Soumya here)."
As the youngster approached him, Yuvraj said with a smile, "Arre, you played well against Pakistan. But don't go after my bowling in the final tomorrow."
Soumya shook Yuvraj’s hands, delighted at having finally interacted with him in the latter’s sixteenth year in international cricket. Soumya has not been enjoying the best run of form of late, but scored a matchwinning 48 against Pakistan on Wednesday, which sent them crashing out.
As the three cricketers had a chat, Shakib interjected, "Soumya lives almost on the India border and could just walk across."
The spunky left-hander hails from Satkhira, bordering West Bengal.
Soumya Sarkar had said in an earlier interview that his two favourite current day cricketers are Yuvraj Singh and Shakib al Hasan, because he admired fighting spirit in people. The occasion must have overwhelmed him, being in the company of his two idols.
Once Yuvraj and Shakib left, he spoke up: "Frankly, I like everything about Yuvraj, both as a cricketer and as a human being.
"In fact, I haven't had another role model and I'd been disappointed when he was out of the India team for close to two years."
