Asia Cup 2018: Ranking the Top 5 teams in the tournament

#2 Afghanistan

Afghanistan put up strong performances throughout the tournament

The one team that had improved by leaps in the past one year in Afghanistan. There has been a common voice from critics and fans across the social media that Afghanistan deserved to be in final, result of which they are ranked second in this list.

They put up a good show in their group stage as they defeated Srilanka and Bangladesh by 91 and 136 runs respectively.

Afghanistan has been the most entertaining team in the tournament providing seat edge thrillers constantly. If it was Shoaib Malik who snatched their victory in their clash against Pakistan, it was Mustafizur for Bangladesh who held his nerve while defending 8 runs.

In their match against India, Ahmed Shehzad played a splendid inning as he scored 124 runs off just 114 balls. Afghans bounced back after the Rayudu-Rahul 110 run opening partnership as the clash ended in a tie after Indan middle order failed to sustain against the Afghan bowling line up.

The spin trio of Rashid - Nabi - Mujeeb has been phenomenal throughout the tournament and has emerged as a nightmare for the batsmen. The onslaught of 57 runs of 32 by Rashid Khan against Bangladesh deserves a mention.

The inexperience of fast bowlers has been a major headache and it’s never late to find a solution. Had they held their nerves during crunch situations, we would have witnessed an India-Afghanistan final clash for sure.