Sakeb Subhan

The Asia Cup so far has been an exercise in making lemonade out of lemons for Bangladesh. From the first match, during which opener Tamim Iqbal was felled by a fractured left hand because of which he eventually had to leave the tournament, Bangladesh have had to deal with the heat in the UAE, which the country's cricketers have not experienced since the 1995 Asia Cup, and tough scheduling.

When Bangladesh meet Pakistan in the last Asia Cup Super Four game, it will be a virtual semifinal between two teams who have had similar paths to this point. Both have won two matches out of four so far.

What could be the beginning of a turnaround for Bangladesh in the ongoing Asia Cup may seem on the surface to have been caused by the inspired inclusion of Imrul Kayes in the team for Sunday's match against Afghanistan a mere 17 hours after he was flown into the United Arab Emirates as emergency reinforcement.

Bangladesh's score of 249 for seven in the crucial Asia Cup Super Four match against Afghanistan yesterday may have elicited a chorus of relieved sighs across the country, but it did not signify a cure to what has been ailing their batting in the ongoing Asia Cup.

Mustafizur Rahman bowled a superb last over, conceding just four runs when eight were needed, as Bangladesh won the Asia Cup Super Four match against Afghanistan by three runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

The 13th-hour inclusion of discarded national openers Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes in Bangladesh's Asia Cup squad may have seemed like reinforcement for a troubled team on Saturday evening, but in the cold light of day it seems little more than a panicked reaction to bad performance.

Confused seems to be the word for Bangladesh in their ongoing Asia Cup campaign. After a bright start on September 15 when they won the opener by 137 runs against Sri Lanka in Dubai, they now stand on the brink of possible elimination in today's Super Four encounter against a vibrant Afghanistan.

Afghan leg-spin sensation Rashid Khan added an unexpected cameo with the bat to his customary incisiveness with the ball to help Afghanistan blow away Bangladesh by 136 runs in the final Asia Cup Group B match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

“It is even more than Mirpur,” came the response from Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza after their Asia Cup match against Sri Lanka on September 15 in Dubai. He was talking about the feeling of home provided by a Bangladesh expatriate-dominated crowd of nearly 25,000 at the Dubai International Stadium.

What increasingly appears to be favouritism towards cricketing powerhouse India has turned the Asia Cup into a near farce. Even with two group matches left and Group A and Group B champions yet to be decided, on Wednesday morning the Asian Cricket Council has published the fixtures list of the Super Four stage starting on Friday.

Tamim Iqbal's heavily bandaged left hand stuck out of a blue sling as he sat on the dressing room balcony staring off into space. The international match unfolding in front of him -- one that he was at the centre of just an hour and a half ago in hot sunshine before being reduced to a spectator as the Dubai sun was setting-- probably did not register.

Last man Mustafizur Rahman had a brain freeze with 3.1 overs still left and the job, despite Mushfiqur Rahim's stellar unbeaten ton, nowhere near done.

That Bangladesh won the opening match of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka yesterday by a crushing 137-run margin at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium does not even begin to tell the story. Mushfiqur Rahim scoring a career-best 144 off 150 balls to lift Bangladesh to 261 after Bangladesh were reduced to one run for two wickets by the end of the first over by danger man Lasith Malinga reveals a bit more, but still not the full picture.

Having made the finals in two of the last three editions of the Asia Cup, Bangladesh must now be considered as one of the serious contenders for the title of the regional cricket extravaganza starting today at the Dubai International Stadium. Their place in their group -- ranked above both groupmates Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, who they take on today -- justifies that billing.

When Bangladesh take on Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup opener in Dubai today, they will deal with the familiar and the unfamiliar in a quest to progress to the second round of a tournament that has been structured in a brand new format.

There is a special place for the Asia Cup in Bangladeshi hearts because growing up in the 1990s and 2000s, it was the tournament that served as the backdrop for the India-Pakistan rivalry, set the stage for the emergence of Sri Lanka and, more relevantly, provided a venue for Bangladesh to start rubbing shoulders with the big boys on a regular basis.

When news filtered through Sunday that young Bangladesh batsman Mosaddek Hossain was being sued by his wife of six years, it was not a big surprise because young players' personal lives becoming more newsworthy than their performances is now a common phenomenon.

The 2005 Ashes series is popularly remembered as Flintoff's Ashes because of the rousing performances of the former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.

Bangladesh batsman Sabbir Rahman may have landed himself in disciplinary trouble yet again after screenshots emerged of abusive language used and threats issued towards a fan from a Facebook account bearing his name and one he used in conversation with media personnel in the past.

The second ODI against West Indies started in the early hours today, and there is at least a fifty per cent chance that, by the time this reaches the reader, Bangladesh clinched a very creditable series win over West Indies with one match still to be played. On the other hand Bangladesh could have lost and then may go on to lose the third ODI and the series on July 28.