It is a twist of fate that two different Asia Cups have been witness to two stages in Bangladesh's evolution. Along with evolution, of course, comes growth amid turmoil and Bangladesh have had much of both in the 2012 tournament and the ongoing one in the UAE where they will contest for the trophy against overwhelming favourites India.

It would not be an injustice in any way if the Cricket Gods allow Mashrafe Bin Mortaza to lift the Asia Cup trophy with his firm hands at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium today to bring smiles on the faces of the millions of cricket-crazy people in our country.

When Bangladesh take on India in the Asia Cup final in Dubai today, it will be a battle between two sides who have come to the title clash through highly contrasting routes and with widely divergent levels of confidence.

Performers, be they on stage, in front of television cameras or on the field of play, sometimes talk about 'love the mess' -- in other words revelling in the scenario when things spin out of control

Tigers were defending a below par score of 239 yesterday and after Shakib Al Hasan’s injury relapse forced him out of the Asia Cup tournament, they were left with only four frontline bowlers. Mushfiqur Rahim admitted that while they took a bit of a risk, the part time bowlers did an outstanding job and supported the excellent start with ball from Mustafizur Rahman, which helped the Tigers defend their total in a crunch match.

Before the start of the tournament Bangladesh players had been saying that their target was to win the Asia Cup with captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza getting the players and telling them during session that the team was not going to the UAE just to make up the numbers.

While Tigers’ score of 239 was below par, Mustafizur Rahman made early inroads into the Pakistani batting lineup in a fiery early spell after Mehedi Miraz had gotten opener Fakhar Zaman out. That gave Tigers the belief that they could win this game but then Shoaib Malik, who has been Pakistan’s star man this tournament laid anchor alongside opener Imam Ul Haq and started taking the game away from the Tigers.

Even as everyone who witnessed the match were saying that beating Pakistan with the odds firmly stacked against Bangladesh was one of the country’s better cricketing achievements, player-of-the-match Mushfiqur Rahim insists that it was just another match for them.

While it may seem that being the first Bangladesh player to suffer the misfortune of getting out on 99 in international cricket would disappoint a player who strives endlessly for personal excellence, Mushfiqur Rahim is not bothered with the near-miss after Bangladesh won the Asia Cup match against Pakistan by 37 runs

Bangladesh draw on wartime philosophy to overcome the potentially crippling losses of Shakib Al hasan and Tamim Iqbal to emerge victorious over Pakistan in the Asia Cup

An already unlucky Asia Cup went from bad to worse for Bangladesh as before the most important match, yesterday's virtual semifinal against Pakistan, trump card Shakib Al Hasan was ruled out of the tournament.

The Bangladesh innings of 239 all out against Pakistan yesterday, leaving overs unused for the fourth time in five matches of the

Bangladesh overcame a slew of obstacles and the crushing blow of ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan being ruled out on the morning of the match to achieve one of their best results -- a 37-run win over two-time champions Pakistan in their Asia Cup match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Yesterday was the third time that Mushfiqur Rahim was dismissed in the nineties in his career. The 31-year-old was out on 99 for the

Before the start of the Asia Cup Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan had warned his team would not only compete but would achieve something special.

Soumya Sarkar was batting in the ICC Academy nets the day before yesterday's match. He was facing up to some local net bowlers.

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been ruled out of the Asia Cup and is on his way back to Dhaka with a flare-up of his long-standing left little finger injury, team manager Khaled Mahmud informs

Ace Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has not been able to grip the bat over the last two days, resulting in him missing out on the crucial Bangladesh-Pakistan encounter in Abu Dhabi, team manager Khaled Mahmud informs

Bangladesh suffer a major blow in their virtual Asia Cup semifinal against Pakistan as ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is ruled out of the match with a flare-up of his longstanding left little finger injury

Opener Liton Das came off the back of a fantastic knock against West Indies in the final T20 match which set up Tigers’ series victory at Florida. In the Asia Cup however, he did not quite showcase his talents in the fifty over format but Tigers’ captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza reiterated that they are hoping Liton is starting to find his feet after a show of confidence from the team as the opener looks to make a place for himself in the ODI side.