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The Asia Cup 2018 came to an end with India beating Bangladesh by three wickets in a thrilling match that was worthy of being a tournament final. With this win, India clinched the Asia Cup 2018.
After being put into bat first, Bangladesh were off to a great start, thanks to a 120-run stand for the opening wicket between Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan. When Mehidy departed for 32, there was a middle-order collapse and 120/1 became 151/5 in a space of 10 overs. Liton continued his onslaught, scored his maiden ODI ton and took Bangladesh to a decent position.
His 121 helped Bangladesh post 222 on the board. Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 3/45 while Kedar Jadhav ended up with two wickets. Chasing 223, India lost in-form batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and Ambati Rayudu early. Skipper Rohit Sharma (48), MS Dhoni (36) and Dinesh Karthik (37) kept India in the game and when things looked bleak for India, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar scored crucial 23 and 21 respectively before getting out with India in touching distance of a win.
Kedar Jadhav returned to bat after retiring hurt earlier in the innings took the team home off the last ball of the match.
Let us take a look at how the cricket fraternity reacted towards India's win in the Asia Cup.
Kedar Jadhav: I've been in this situation few months back. Knew field will be up in the end and will be easy to take one or two. The way Kuldeep batted gave me confidence too. I'm still a batsman who can bowl. It's at least Grade I or II tear. Let's see tomorrow.
Kuldeep Yadav: He (Jadhav) just told me to back myself and be careful while running. Wicket was good to bat on today, compared to the last game. More you play here, more you get better. First game I was struggling to get my line right. Have scored a lot of runs in first-class cricket, so qualify me as all-rounder.
Ravindra Jadeja - I was almost out for 15 months and I wasn't feeling good. I want to play white-ball cricket, I just wanted to prove myself and improve on my game. You need to prove yourself when you get the opportunity, you need to show you are good enough. I just wanted to play my natural game, try and hit the ball well and win the game for my country.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Hong Kong was a wake-up call for me. When you come back from injury, it takes at least one game and that was the game for me. Don't want to give room to the batsman. On these wickets, drive is an easy shot for the batsman. So, the plan was to bowl back of a length. He's (Bumrah) an amazing bowler. We keep talking on our plans.
Ravi Shastri - It's a different format, but I think everyone knows how well we played in England, the scorecard really doesn't show it. This is a different format and we needed to start afresh. I liked the intensity with which we played, we were a bit flat against Hong Kong in the first match, but pulled up afterwards. The biggest plus was the fielding, game after game, we saved around 30-35 runs in these oppressive conditions. We took wickets consistently and during the middle-overs, the bowlers were outstanding, we bowled well with the new ball in tough conditions and then the spinners came to the party. Rohit was a calming influence and it showed on his captaincy. To keep his intensity going even after the start they had, showed he was really cool in every aspect of captaincy, the bowling changes he made were really good, to concede just around 100 runs in the last 30 overs, I thought it was brilliant.
Shikhar Dhawan, Man of the Tournament: Yeah I enjoyed this tournament. Fantastic final. Good tournament for me, enjoyed my batting, and hope to continue the same way. I enjoy playing it in a cool and matured manner. I was playing more calmly this time, and I want consistency and elegance at the same time. Rohit and I keep switching the aggressor's role sometimes, and I congratulate him for having a fantastic Asia Cup too.
Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh Captain: I hope we won a lot of hearts. We fought till the last ball, but we made a lot of mistakes on the field today. We bowled really well, particularly if we made 240+. We asked the batsmen to make at least 260, but at the end of the day, the bowlers did really well. I wanted to bowl the quicks first because I wanted to restrict the runs because they were going after us. We didn't want the spinners to be charged so I bowled out the fast bowlers.
Rohit Sharma, India captain: We played some good cricket throughout the tournament and this is the reward of all the hardwork throughout the tournament. I have been part of games like this before and credit to the guys in the middle to handle the pressure and to cross the finishing line was a fantastic effort. You have to give some credit to Bangladesh. They put us under pressure in the first 10 overs. We thought if the ball got older, the spinners would do the work for us. It was important to keep it tight and we have done that well throughout the tournament. If you have a team like that, the captain will always look good. It wouldn't be easy if we don't have the support of the remaining 10 players, so I am really proud of the boys. I would like to thank the crowd, who have come out in huge numbers to support us throughout the tournament and I'm sure they're going back extremely pleased.
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