Asia Cup 2018 Final, India vs Bangladesh: 5 Unnoticed things from the game

Bangladesh having earned their place to play in the final were more determined than ever to prove a point. The quality of cricket Bangladesh have been playing these days, it comes as no surprise that they have found success of late.

Dubai was set for a good contest in the final. India won the toss and put Bangladesh into bat first. The wicket looked flat and good to bat. Bangladesh made most out of it. Openers Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan showed good intent and played positive cricket. Soon they put up a 100-run partnership for the first wicket.

Bangladesh were 120 for no loss and India couldn't take a wicket but then arrived the man with the golden arm Kedar Jadhav. He struck immediately to send Mehidy back. From there on Bangladesh self-imploded and all they managed was mere 100 more runs for remaining 9 wickets. Liton Das was at his best to score his maiden century to post 223 as the target for India.

In reply, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan started to attack right from ball one. Najmul Islam sent greedy Dhawan back to the pavilion. Rohit continued from one end but India's middle order was exposed to do the bulk of the scoring. Soon Rohit fell two short of his half-century.

It was Karthik and Dhoni who kept the scoreboard ticking with a 50 partnership to take India closer to the target. Mahmudullah got rid of Karthik when India needed 89 runs to win the match. Just when things were going India's way, Mustafizur silenced the crowd by getting Dhoni caught behind. Jadeja and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar kept going and in the end, India pulled off a last-ball victory to upset Bangladesh once again in the finals.

Here are the five unnoticed things from the final:

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#1 First 100 run opening partnership for Bangladesh since 2016

If there was one area Bangladesh were seriously needed improvement, it was at the top. Their openers had failed to provide good starts to the team throughout the Asia Cup. The opening stand averaged a mere 17 till the final.

In the absence of Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh tried Mehedy Hasan with Liton Das in the big final. It finally worked for them. They not only went past their average score but managed to put up a 100-run stand. Both the batsmen looked very positive and rotated strike easily. They showed great intent at the top. This was their first century stand since 2016. It did come off at the right time for Bangladesh.

#2 Liton Das scored his maiden 100 and became the 5th batsman to score a century in Asia Cup finals

When Tamim Iqbal was ruled out of Asia Cup with a fractured wrist. It was a tough ask for Bangladesh to find a reliable player at the top order who could provide stability like Tamim. Liton Das was given more chances to make himself comfortable at the top. And it finally paid off for them.

He turned up with good intent, positive frame of mind, took the attack to the Indian bowlers and blazed to a fifty off just 33 balls, equalling Tamim Iqbal's record. He was in no mood to stop and went on to reach his maiden century for Bangladesh. Big final, high-pressure game and the opener showed good character.

#3 MS Dhoni became 3rd wicketkeeper to effect 800 dismissals

If there is one thing MS Dhoni is highly regarded for apart from his fierce hitting is his glove work behind the stumps. Time and again he has proved to be mighty effective behind the stumps for India. Those lightning quick hands can send any batsman back in a matter of a second.

Dhoni reached 800th international dismissal in wicket keeping when he affected stumpings in Bangladesh innings. He is only the third wicketkeeper to reach there after Mark Boucher and Adam Gilchrist.

#4 Mehidy Hasan became only the 5th player to open both batting and bowling in the Asia Cup

How often do you see a batsman coming to open the innings for the team and also get the ball in his hand to start the proceedings? Well, Mehidy Hasan became the fifth player in the Asia Cup to achieve that feat. He joined the list of India's Manoj Prabhakar, Sri Lanka's Ravi Ratnayeke, Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez, and UAE's Asim Saeed. That is some record in cricket.

#5 India's struggle in the middle order continues on their road to World Cup

When everybody thought India pulled things back brilliantly to restrict Bangladesh to 222 after a 100-run opening stand, for few it was that question which still haunted them. What if openers don't provide a good start? Does India's middle order have that ability to close matches on its own? Matches like these provide an answer to such questions.

The answer is still no. When India was reeling at 83/3, and India needed 140 runs to win, the middle order struggled to chase the target under pressure. With about 20 matches left in the bank till the World Cup, India has to find a solution to it.