Positives from Asia Cup

[Yankees]

Finally had some time to think about last night's game. Tough luck. Poor batting. Emotions are down. But with that said, there are lots of positives to take away from this entire Asia Cup. I won't mention how close the final was, or that we reached the final, because at this time, it's no longer a feat for us.

The rise of Liton Kumar Das - Fantastic knock last night. Finally we get a glimpse of the Liton we had seen dominate domestics. The first Bangladeshi to score a 100 in a tournament final. For all the talk about how we will regress without our seniors, none of them have yet to do what Liton just did. And for that reason, I think he deserves a permanent run until the WC. He needs to play with the freedom of knowing that his spot is safe.

Sure he might be terrible the next couple of innings. He might even go for a duck next game. But the temperament he has shown, the calmness as everyone around him folded, that isn't something you can teach. And so he needs to be persisted with.


The growth of Fizz - Fizz played beautifully. From defending 7 in the last over (unheard of in todays ODI) agaist AFG, to putting us in a position to defend 6 in the final, Fizz has shown why he is the best. I would even say he has no peers in Asia. Bumrah, Ali, Amir can fight it out for 2nd place. He's been incredible to watch and the pressure never seems to faze him. And he's just 23. God I love this kid!


Miraz is no mirage - Miraz's growth is coming along nicely. And he took a big step this tournament. I believe he too deserves a permanent spot until the WC as the understudy to Shakib and as our second spin option.


Mashrafe bin Mortaza - He was incredible again as captain. His field placement, aggressiveness, it was truly incredible to watch.

We will remember this tournament for Tamim's heroics, and rightly so, but I think this Asia Cup cemented the legacy of Mashrafe the Captain. The commies kept repeating "great captaincy' over and over, and I wish I could tell them that he's been doing this for us for a long time now, you just don't watch BD cricket. Well now, even the insular indian cricket factory knows who Mashrafe is and why he's the absolute best of Bangladesh.

Cricket world often defines captains based on trophies won. Well it's easy to be a winning captain when you have great players on your side. But you give Dhoni or Ponting a BD team without Tam-Sha, and you'll see how quickly they fold. Only a great leader like Mash can take this rag-tag injury laden team to the finals. Only Mash can make India sh*t its collective pants chasing 222.

He's our best ambassador for his demeanor, his humility, his leadership. Forget cricket, I want to send him as our delegate to the UN. Am I over doing it? Nahhhh.


Tamim - Many of you already said everything needed to be said - and I can't anymore to that. His bravery and selflessness will be remembered.

We still have some question marks (still need a reliable 3), but I think we got some questions answered. I know some of you are down, but cheer up guys, because road to the World Cup is a lot smoother now.