IND VS AFG - Super Four, Match 5, Asia Cup 2018

Dead rubber? No no, I'm not going to end with a cliche like "Cricket is the real winner here" but this was insanity. When the day began, the biggest concern was the unpredictability of the Fantasy XI. At the end of the day, even the ardent fans who incurred losses would be satisfied with the result. They've certainly got their money's worth. A fantastic exhibition of cricket. And more importantly, a spellbinding exhibition for cricket. A chaotic comm-box, guilty of sound pollution and some extravagant expressions of joy, bids you goodbye for the day. Join us for the coverage tomorrow, same time, same place. For now, it's Rishi Roy, signing off on behalf of Shashikant Singh, Abhinand Raghavendran, Nikhil Jadhav and Raju Peethala as MS Dhoni walks back, with his captaincy career starting and (presumably) ending in ties. Afghanistan walk back too, defeated, but heads held high. *Curtains Down*

India's chase got off to a fantastic start, but the wicket of Rayudu brought a few more. The Afghanistan bowlers kept pecking away at the middle-order, taking every opportunity that came their way. They were lucky with a couple of dismissals, particularly those of Dhoni and Karthik, but given their fortunes in the last two games, they deserved some luck. "Cricket is a great leveller," MS Dhoni had said, during a promotional event of his biopic, circa September 2016 - and it is only fitting, that possibly his last game as captain of the side ends up in a tie. Despite the Gulf between India's first choice XI and benchstrength, perhaps this was a tight contest they needed before the final. A polite wake-up call. It's a game that these Afghan players will write home about. In fact they'll just take the flight home, like Shahzad mentioned, and this match will go down in the fables of Afghan cricket history.

Mohammad Shahzad, Man of the match: I'm not very happy, we have slogged for 6 hours at the ground without result, but I am happy with the performance of the team. We have a flight tomorrow, so I thought of playing my game freely. I am feeling proud, because I have played an innings like this against the best side in Asia. I haven't played well throughout the tournament, but I am happy that I played well in this one.

Asghar Afghan, Afghanistan captain: Today the wicket was a good one for us as it was a spinning track. Shahzad played really well and played very positive cricket. Their opening partnership was good and our spinners did an equally good job. When you tie a match with a side like India, it's just like a win. India have chased easily in the last two games but today we made it tough for them. Such tough games are good for the fans as well. Every time we have asked him, Shahzad has done the job for us. He played well in the last game too but today he was the real Shahzad. Again, I give him a lot of credit for his knock. Thank you very much.

MS Dhoni, India captain: Their (Afghanistan's) cricket has improved a lot. The way they have continued from the start of the Asia cup, it is commendable and we have enjoyed their cricket. It is one country that has risen through the ranks very well. They played really well. They batted extremely well too. The wicket slowed down later, but they bowled extremely well throughout the game and their fielding was tight too. I wouldn't say we went wrong in the chase. To start off, it was like a handicap in golf. We didn't go with a full-strength side. Not enough spinners on this wicket. The first over that a fast bowler bowls, they need to extract swing. We didn't hit the back of a length area, and we gave away too much initially with the ball. We got off to a very good start with the bat, but the wicket slowed down over the course of the game, so someone should have continued with the bat. Shot-selection is something that we need to work on. There were a couple of run-outs, and a few things we can't talk about (the incorrect LBW decisions) because I don't want to get fined for it. It's good that it's a tie, but they played really well. The Afghanistan guys played really well. 250 was a very good score on this wicket. We could have been on the losing side because of quite a few things that didn't go for us, so I'm happy with the result.

Harsha Bhogle: For all of Afghanistan's pluck, India must ask why a gettable total became so difficult to surpass. Even with the umpiring calls, should still have crossed the line.

Spinners defending < 10 runs in the last over off a TIED ODI:
6 K Arthurton v Aus, Georgetown, 1999
7 RASHID KHAN v Ind, Dubai DSC, 2018
9 A White v Zim, Kingston, 2007

Harsha Bhogle: Couldn't have asked for a better match. Jadeja takes India as close as possible but in all fairness, Afghanistan deserved that tie

Most ODIs TIED as captain:
5 MS Dhoni
3 R Richardson/ S Waugh/ S Pollock

Tied ODIs for India:
vs WI, Perth, 1991
vs Zim, Indore, 1993
vs Zim, Paarl, 1997
vs Eng, Bengaluru, 2011
vs Eng, Lord's, 2011
vs SL, Adelaide, 2012
vs NZ, Auckland, 2014
vs Afg, Dubai DSC, 2018

23:39 Local Time, 19:39 GMT, 01:09 IST: What a doozy! There's a tricolour-turbanned junior fan in the crowd who's in tears, but he can't fathom the beauty of what he has witnessed. One must feel for Afghanistan. Not exactly a hat-trick of heartbreaks for Afghanistan, but they'll be thrilled that they served up the most closely-fought contests in the Asia Cup. And to top it off with this masterpiece of a tie? They can walk away from this tournament a very proud nation. The Afghanistan legend continues. The magical journey sees another highlight in its timeline - a tied ODI against the second-best ODI side in the world. And, don't forget, this was a return to captaincy for MS Dhoni, his 200th ODI as captain, and he caps it off with the 5th tie of his captaincy career. To the presentations now, and I try to catch my breath.

Rashid Khan to Jadeja, out Caught by Najibullah! Are you kidding me? Oh Asia Cup. You serve us 10 one-sided snoozefests, and then a tie for the ages. That's a short one, Jadeja's eyes light up, and he mistimes the pull. Gets a bit of a top-edge towards midwicket and Najibullah runs in from the deep to collect it. Calm and composed. This is one for the ages... Jadeja c Najibullah b Rashid Khan 25(34) [4s-1]

Rashid Khan to Jadeja, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

It's a tie!

Rashid Khan to Khaleel Ahmed, 1 run, the skidder outside off, Khaleel Ahmed throws his hands at the drive, gets a thick inside edge to short fine leg and they scamper through for a single. A throw at the non-striker's end, the batsman was in trouble, but Rashid doesn't collect. Khaleel's first international run is worth remembering!

Oh, these are some mad moments. Khaleel on strike. One to tie, two to win for India. One wicket for Afghanistan to win.

Rashid Khan to Jadeja, 1 run, fired in flat on the pads, tickled away to backward square leg and he's taken the single...

Rashid Khan to Jadeja, FOUR, tossed up outside off, Jadeja clears his front-leg and times the slog-sweep to perfection. There's a fielder coming in from a squarer position towards deep mid-wicket and he puts in the dive, but it has reached the boundary. Is it a four or a six? It's a four. Hits the cushion on the half-volley

Rashid Khan to Jadeja, no run, short and turning away outside off, Jadeja mistimes the pull towards deep midwicket. Refuses the single

A doozy of a nail-biter on our hands. India have one wicket in hand. Rashid to defend 7 off the last over. The key? Jadeja on strike. Dhawan comes in with replacement gloves for Jadeja. Rohit was there too, with some advice perhaps.

Aftab Alam to Jadeja, 1 run, fuller length delivery on the boots, clipped away towards fine leg for a single

K Khaleel Ahmed, right handed bat, comes to the crease