Bangladesh thumped England in a bowler-dominated contest after home skipper Mashrafe Mortaza's all-round brilliance secured their series-levelling 34-run victory in the second One-day International on Sunday.
Lost in transition, defending champions Sri Lanka will look to come out of the rut and start well against a spirited Afghanistan in their World Twenty20 Super 10 opener at Eden Gardens on Thursday. The defending champions, who were also runners-up in 2009 and 2012, have managed to win only four of their 14 matches since they beat India to win the 2014 edition in Mirpur. They are in the middle of a transition phase after Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene's exit. The build-up to the tournament was also forgettable with series defeats in New Zealand and India followed by an early ouster in Asia Cup. To add to the misery, their 2014 WT20 winning skipper Lasith Malinga has stepped down as leader of the team, following concern over his slow recovery from a knee injury. Now Test and ODI skipper Angelo Mathews' task is cutout. Having joined the squad on Tuesday, Malinga is a doubtful starter for the match. His presence in the team would impact the team a lot.
Former Australian fast bowling great Brett Lee is worried at the alarming trend of young quicks putting an effort on beefing up upper body which in turn is adversely affecting the quality of speed merchants. Lee was forthright when asked about the absence of genuinely quick bowlers at the moment. "I just think that we have to keep promoting wickets where bowlers can bowl quick. I don't think bowlers are training correctly, there is a lot of emphasis and too much importance only on guys lifting heavy weights. Gym work is good only if it's done correctly, it has to be high on intensity and low on weights," Lee told PTI in New Delhi during an interaction.
Virat Kohli termed Mahendra Singh Dhoni the "best finisher in the world" after the India skipper made short work of Bangladesh with a flurry of sixes and boundaries in the final of the Asia Cup in Mirpur.
Counter-attacking is the game I play, that's why I bat at No 3, says Virat Kohli.
Under fire, Dhoni's men will look to plug all loopholes as the in-form Bangla tigers aim for a clean sweep
Sri Lanka compensated for their batting failure with a disciplined bowling performance to beat United Arab Emirates by 14 runs in a round robin league encounter of the Asia Cup Twenty20, in Mirpur on Thursday.
The in-form Rohit Sharma says being entrusted with the task of opening the innings in limited overs cricket has put added responsibility on his shoulders. Continuing his rich vein of form, Rohit struck a blazing 83 to lay the foundation for India's crushing win over Bangladesh in the Asia Cup T20 opener in Mirpur on Wednesday. "Batting at the top of the order has put up added responsibility on my shoulders. Being a top order batsman, it is a responsibility to get the team to a good score and make winning matches a habit," Rohit said. He added, "Experiences play a huge part in this game. The more cricket you play, the more experience you get as to how you need to build your innings, what is required by the team and identifying your game etc. These things have helped me a lot in the past."
Australia regained the prestigious ICC Test mace and also won a cash award of $1million after beating New Zealand in the Christchurch Test by seven wickets and winning the series 2-0 on Wednesday. Australia finished two points ahead of India with 112 points in the final series before the April 1 cut-off date.
The Asia Cup to be played in Bangladesh from February 24, will be played in the T20 format for the first time in the tournament's history. The tournament which precedes the vital World T20 to be held in in India in March, has a rich history with India and Sri Lanka winning it five times each. Pakistan have been victorious on two occasions while Bangladesh's best finish has been their runner-up performance in the 2012 edition. Team India will be led by MS Dhoni and the tournament will also see Virat Kohli returning after taking a break from the recently concluded three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. Dhoni will be chasing history to become the most successful skipper in the tournament history. The Indian skipper and former Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga have both recorded same number of nine victories and four defeats in the Asia Cup All the matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur. The qualifying rounds involving Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Oman has begun from Friday.
Saeed warned India that if "war" in Kashmir further prolonged it would have to pay a heavy price for it.
In the other match of the day, Dan Lawrence and Jack Burnham hit centuries as title contender England crushed Fiji by a massive margin of 299 runs.
Australian eves once again proved their supremacy in women's cricket as they completed a hat-trick of ICC World T20 titles with a comprehensive six-wicket win over England in the final in Mirpur on Sunday.
Dale Steyn became the second South African bowler to join the 400 club as his team took five wickets in the final session to reduce Bangladesh to 246 for eight on the first day of the second Test in Mirpur on Thursday.
Australia have opted for experience over youth in an attempt to win a maiden World Twenty20 title by selecting veterans Brad Hogg, Brad Hodge and Brad Haddin in their 15-man squad for the tournament in Bangladesh next month.
India sealed the numero uno spot in the International Cricket Council Twenty20 rankings after Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side won the Asia Cup in Mirpur and will now enter the World T20 as the top team.
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels the current Indian team is a "balanced" side which can "take on any team anywhere in the world" at least in the shortest format of the game after they notched up their ninth win in 10 matches.
The much-awaited India-Pakistan World Twenty20 clash is in jeopardy after the Himachal Pradesh government expressed its inability to provide security for the match, leaving the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a bind with Board Secretary Anurag Thakur saying that the state should not 'play politics'.
Indian batting mainstay Virat Kohli said the Asia Cup starting in Mirpur, on Wednesday, is a perfect platform to assess the team's strengths, weaknesses and its current standing on the global stage ahead of the big-ticket World Twenty20 next month.
Eddie Leie made a memorable international debut as he and his spin partner Aaron Phangsio bowled South Africa to a series-clinching 31-run victory in the second and final Twenty20 match against Bangladesh at Mirpur on Tuesday.
Battered and bruised, Australia scored a consolation victory, thrashing Bangladesh by seven wickets, to round off a disappointing campaign in the ICC World Twenty20, in Mirpur, on Tuesday.
Bangladesh bowling coach Heath Streak wants young pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman to be looked after and supported well so that he can grow into a big match-winner.
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Five-time champions India ended their campaign in the Asia Cup with a consolation eight-wicket victory over debutants Afghanistan, in Mirpur, on Wednesday.
India have won the Asia Cup six times, Sri Lanka five, and Pakistan have won it just twice. As the 14th edition of Asia's own trophy gets underway on Saturday, Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers on the 13 editions so far.
Jake Ball made a memorable One-day debut as he combined with Adil Rashid to derail Bangladesh's chase and bowl England to a thrilling 21-run victory in the first match of the series, in Mirpur, on Friday.
India lifted the Asia Cup trophy for a record sixth time after beating Bangladesh by a comprehensive eight-wicket margin in the weather-hit final at Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Mirpur on Sunday. Chasing a challenging target of 121 runs in the allotted 15 overs after rain resulted in two-hour delay in the start of the match, opener Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli guided the men-in-blue home. After the early dismissal of Rohit Sharma, Kohli (41 not out off 28 balls) partnered Dhawan (60 off 44 balls) to stitch a match-winning partnership of 94 runs for the second wicket. India now has won the continental tournament most number of six times followed by Sri Lanka (5).
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.
Skipper Angelo Mathews held his nerve under pressure and scored an unbeaten half-century as Sri Lanka recovered from a bad start to beat Bangladesh by three wickets in the concluding league match of the Asia Cup in Mirpur on Thursday.
Captain Steven Smith's domination reached new heights at the Melbourne Cricket Ground states Rajneesh Gupta
When South Africa lost to India on Sunday, they cemented their reputation for 'choking' in ICC tournaments. Rajneesh Gupta tells us why South Africa's record for freezing in important ICC contests is, alas, well deserved.
Bangladesh thrashed South Africa by seven wickets in the second one-day international on Sunday to tie the three-match series at 1-1 after an inspired bowling performance saw the Proteas bundled out for 162, their lowest total against the hosts.
It's been six months since Mahendra Singh Dhoni quit Test cricket but the India ODI captain said the manner in which he used to approach the shorter format would not change as his philosophy is to adapt as per the demands of the situation.
While winning four major finals, India have finished on the losing side in the finals on four occasions.
Rajneesh Gupta breaks down all the facts and figures from the recent India vs Australia ODI series.
Indian opener Rohit Sharma said that the team will not only be thinking of Pakistan's ace pacer Muhammed Amir, who has made a successful comeback after being suspended owing to match-fixing, but the team has a plan to counter all bowlers from the arch-rivals. "I have played him before but also other bowlers. We are preparing for each individual and not just about one. We have to be well prepared and we are up for the challenge. We are not thinking too far ahead and doing everything possible we can to win games," Rohit said on the eve of India's Asia Cup T20 match against Pakistan. Rohit also praised the selectors and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for giving him the confidence when he had a string of low scores at the start of his international career. "If any individual knows that he has the backing of the team, that's when he opens up and expresses himself better -- gets the performance going," Rohit told mediapersons in Fatullah on Friday. "For us also, we have been playing with the squad for a while which shows that we have a good bunch, which is ready to take up the challenge at any given point of time. That's a good sign and we are very proud of that.
Qualifier Nepal caused the first major upset of the World Cup, shocking New Zealand by 32 runs in a Group D match in Fatullah on Thursday.
Paceman Mitchell Johnson has been ruled out of the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh with a toe infection, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka cruised into the final of the Asia Cup with a resounding 129-run victory over minnows Afghanistan, at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Bangladesh, on Monday.
Suresh Raina has come out in full support of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Azhar Ali struck his maiden Test double hundred and Asad Shafiq registered his sixth century as Pakistan took firm control of the second and final Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur, Dhaka , on Thursday.
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