Mind games have begun ahead of the Asia Cup final played between host Bangladesh and India at Mirpur on Sunday. While India's team director Ravi Shastri has termed it as 'yet another match', Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza called India as clear favourites to relieve pressure from his young side in the title clash. "We all know that Indians are clear favourites in the final. Let there be no debates or discussions on that," Mashrafe said at a packed match-eve press conference. India have been in rampaging form with four convincing wins in the tournament, including the 45-run thumping of Bangladesh in their opening league match. "What we have got is a young team which has won matches playing as a unit. We still don't have a T20 star, who can single-handedly win us a match. Crowd, pitch, conditions, everything will favour us but that can never ensure that we will win the final," Mashrafe clarified. Commenting on Shastri's statement, Mashrafe said that for his team which rarely makes final appearances, it's a "big occasion". "What Ravi Shastri has said is absolutely right. It is another match for them as they are used to hype and big matches. They can take it like 10 other matches. "India has played big finals, won trophies. What is easy for them may not be that easy for us. But we are trying to focus on the game, shut ourselves from the hype and remain and play as normally as possible," the Bangladesh skipper said.
Sohaib Maqsood spared Pakistan's blushes by hitting an unbeaten 93 to secure the team's three-wicket victory over Bangladesh in their first World Cup warm-up match on Monday.
Bangladesh made a perfect start to their World Cup campaign, posting their highest one-day international score of 330-6 during the 21-run win over South Africa.
Captain Virat Kohli has indicated that Lokesh Rahul may be preferred at the crucial No. 4 slot in the World Cup following his hundred in India's 95-run victory over Bangladesh in Tuesday's warm-up match in Cardiff.
Rain played spoilsport yet again as the second day of the one-off Test between India and Bangladesh was called off without a single delivery being bowled, in Fatullah, on Thursday.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza expressed displeasure at a few decisions going against his side in their 109 runs' thrashing by India in the cricket World Cup quarter-finals at the MCG on Thursday though he did not say it in so many words.
Liton Das and Tamim Iqbal scored a hundred each as Bangladesh thrashed Zimbabwe by 123 runs in a rain-hit third One-Day International to complete a clean sweep in the three-match series, in Sylhet, on Friday.
Rishabh Pant became the first Indian and only the 12th player on record to hit a six as the first scoring shot of their Test career.
Mushfiqur Rahim's superb hundred complemented by a collective effort from the bowlers saw Bangladesh thrash Sri Lanka by 137 runs despite Lasith Malinga's brilliant international comeback in the Asia Cup opener, in Dubai, on Saturday.
The captain said Bangladesh has been playing some really good cricket, running the bog teams close but it's time that they 'cross the line'.
The Bangladesh Test and T20 captain was handed a two-year suspension by the ICC for failing to report three corrupt approaches.
Pakistan crashed out of the final of the Asia Cup cricket tournament after losing by five wickets to hosts Bangladesh here and skipper Shahid Afridi conceded that his side committed "too many mistakes" which cost them dearly.
Colin Munro became the third New Zealand player to score a Twenty20 international century as his side secured a 47-run victory and wrapped up their three-match series against Bangladesh with a game to spare on Friday.
'It was a clinical performance from the start'
"It will be the same wicket and same ground for both teams," Mashrafe told reporters
Kumar Sangakkara continued his awesome batting form in Bangladesh as Sri Lanka won the second One-Day International by 61 runs in Dhaka on Thursday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Will it be Naryanswami Srinivasan or Mustafa Kamal?
Bangladesh's first World Cup centurion Mahmudullah is hoping to extend his big scoring spree at the World Cup when he faces off against India.
Bangladesh registered a 23-run upset victory over defending champions Sri Lanka in a round robin league encounter to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for the final of Asia Cup T20 cricket tournament, in Mirpur, on Sunday.
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza admitted they were in a state of sorrow in the aftermath of their inexplicable one-run loss to India but hoped they would return home with their heads held high by winning against New Zealand in their concluding league fixture of ICC World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Saturday. "The whole team is in a state of sorrow, everyone is broken. Nobody is blaming anyone but we've somehow accepted the defeat. Everyone was very upset. They just could not talk to each other. It was so disappointing," Mortaza said summing up the team's mood after their loss in Bengaluru. "We have never lost this way. We have to play our best again. If we get the opportunity, we have to make sure we don't repeat the same mistakes. The conditions are similar but the wicket is different. New Zealand are on top clearly, whereas we lost all three. We will try our best." Mortaza further said saying 'sorry' to their fans would not be enough and they would try to play hard to put the disappointment behind and try to get over the line against the unstoppable Black Caps.
Demoralised Bangladesh will look to end their campaign on a high when they face a rampaging New Zealand.
Sunil Joshi is backing Bangladesh's spin bowlers, led by the in-form Shakib Al Hasan, to hold their own against India when their World Cup campaign continues next week.
Images from Monday's World Cup match between Bangladesh and Afghanistan, in Southampton.
A severely hamstrung Kedar Jadhav held his nerve in the closing stages, while the lower order made vital contributions with the bat as India edged past Bangladesh by three wickets to win their seventh Asia Cup title in a pulsating last-ball finish, in Dubai on Friday.
Faf du Plessis led from the front as South Africa flexed their bowling muscles to thrash Bangladesh by 52 runs in the first Twenty20 Internationals on Sunday to go 1-0 up in the two-match series.
Bangladesh's fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman yet again devastated the famed Indian batting line up.
When Bangladesh defeated India by 79 runs in the first One-day international in Mirpur on Thursday, they registered their ninth straight win at home. But the talking point of the match wasn't the historic result but the surprising show of aggression by India's captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
As far as the Indian team is concerned, even a 3-0 result against the hosts will not be enough for the second-placed side to claim the number one spot in the ICC rankings, while a favourable outcome for the home team will boost its qualifying chances for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza says his injury-struck side will have to improve considerably in all departments to challenge India in the Asia Cup final, in Dubai, on Friday.
A couple of hours after being told by doctors that his Asia Cup was over because of a fractured left wrist, Tamim walked out to bat with one hand after the fall of ninth Bangladesh wicket.
Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali says pressure will be on arch-rivals India in the upcoming Asia Cup because of the ICC Champions Trophy final defeat last year.
Mahmudullah Riyadh produced an all-round effort to guideBangladesh to a comprehensive 51-run win against United Arab Emirates, as the host opened their account in the Asia Cup T20 tournament in Mirpur on Friday. Batting first, Bangladesh managed only 133 for eight largely due to rearguard action from Man-of-the-Match Mahmudullah, who scored a quickfire 36 off 27 balls with the help of a boundary and two sixes. However UAE's batting faltered once again as they produced a below-par effort to get bowled out for 82 in only 17.4 overs. Mahmudullah took 2/5 along with a brilliant catch to make it a memorable outing for him. Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza (2/12), left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahaman (2/13 in 4 overs), Shakib Al Hasan (2/20) and Al-Amin Hossain (1/8) were also amongst wickets. It was a day where Mahmudullah showed his all-round skills taking a smart diving catch at gully to dismiss Shaiman Anwar off Mortaza's bowling.
Tamim Iqbal became his country's top run-scorer in one-day cricket as Bangladesh beat New Zealand by 40 runs in the second ODI to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, in Dhaka, on Thursday night.
India will look for another colossal victory and inch closer to the semi-finals when they square off against an embattled Bangladesh.
Penpix of the Bangladesh squad for the 2015 cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
England's Chris Woakes hit a six off Shafiul Islam to seal a series-clinching four-wicket victory in the third and final one-day international against Bangladesh on Wednesday. Sam Billings justified his selection with his maiden fifty and Ben Duckett registered his second half-century of the series but it was Ben Stokes' unbeaten 47 off 48 balls that helped England pull off a tricky 278-run chase with 13 balls to spare. Put into bat in Chittagong, Bangladesh had posted a strong 277-6 on the back of a string of top order cameos and Mushfiqur Rahim's unbeaten 67 down the order.
'It's a tournament of the top eight teams and more challenging than the World Cup'
New Zealand and Bangladesh enter their final group match of the ICC Champions Trophy, in Cardiff, on Friday, with the knowledge that even a win may not be enough to see either of them into the semi-finals.
Pakistan's emerging talent gave a glimpse of the future on a day one old warrior finally called time under the shadow of Old Father Time.
Images from the Australia-Bangladesh World Cup match in Nottingham, on Thursday.
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