||Desk Report||

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza has hinted that his team are going to offer more surprises as they head themselves into a second successive Asia Cup final.

According to the fast-bowler, his team might introduce a new face at the opening spot where the regulars have failed to impress so far.

“We have been surprised at this event. We have amazed you as well. Maybe tomorrow [today] you will see someone who has never opened before. So we're ready for everything. You should also be ready,” said Mashrafe.

Starting off with their eyes on the top spot, the Tigers dealt a major blow as an injury forced their in-form opener Tamim Iqbal out of the field, and later out of the tournament itself, during their opening-match victory over Sri Lanka. Another opener in the squad, Nazmul Hossain, failed to fill the big shoes of the southpaw, leading to the inclusion of Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes in the squad.

Bangladesh also suffered two more injury scares to two of their core-group cricketers – Shakib Al Hasan, who was already playing with a long-standing finger injury, and Mushfiqur Rahim.

The Mashrafe-led men then experienced back-to-back thrashings at the hands of Afghanistan and India in their last group clash and the first Super Four encounter, respectively. However, they took revenge for their loss against Afghanistan by defeating them in the Super Four and faced Pakistan in a virtual semi-final with their vice-captain and ace all-rounder Shakib ruled out of the tournament.

A depleted Bangladesh went on to defeat the Men in Green and will now take on India in a repeat of the last Asia Cup’s final, on Friday (September 28).