My Asia Cup was won following Tamim's reappearance: Mashrafe
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||Desk Report||
Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal’s act of bravery in the Asia Cup-opener against Sri Lanka has been the talk of the town for a while. According to Mashrafe Mortaza, his Asia Cup was won the very moment Tamim went out to bat with a broken finger.
Just when the Sri Lanka cricketers thought that they have bundled out Bangladesh, Tamim, who retired hurt earlier in the innings, came on to bat as the eleventh batsman and helped Mushfiqur Rahim to add a few more runs to the total.
Impressed by Tamim’s act, Mashrafe is giving this Asia Cup final more importance. However, the Bangladesh skipper does not want to put extra pressure on the team and wants to play the final like any other matches.
“When Tamim came on the field with a broken finger, my Asia Cup was won. So the importance [of the Asia Cup final] this time is a little bit more,” Mashrafe told reporters.
Following Tamim’s injury-forced exit from the tournament, his side’s ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan also got ruled out. With their two star cricketers out of the team, Bangladesh still managed to defeat Pakistan in a virtual semi-final encounter in the Super Four. They are now looking to put up a good fight against India as well, when the two teams meet in the final.
“Yes it's a great opportunity. But the final is just another match. Anything can happen if you are having your best day. The boys are in a good condition. But Shakib-Tamim are not with us. They [the rest of the squad] learned a lot in the last match,” said Mashrafe.
