India won by 3 wkts
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Litton Das
Batter
Bowler
The fireworks light up the sea of blue that is the Dubai stadium as Rohit Sharma is presented with the Asia Cup, and he hands it to Khaleel Ahmed - the youngest member of the squad who holds it aloft. A moment for the Asian champions who bask in glory - under lights. The crowd has gone berserk here at Dubai and the circumference of the stadium is drenched in blue - with the odd tri-colour to complement it. The Bangladesh fans - spare a thought for them. Their wait for the elusive title win continues but they have not only won hearts, but shown immense composure in pressure situations to get to the final. The final hurdle - that's where things go haywire for the tigers. They've fought gallantly, and should be really proud of their performance. As for India, they've added another feather to their cap. To the Bangladesh fans, I have no words of consolation at this point, and to the Indian fans - party hard! It's been a pleasure bringing you all the action - and this is Rishi Roy, signing off for the last time, as the Asia Cup draws to a close, alongside Sagar Chawla, Akshay Maanay, Pradeep Krishnamurthy, Raju Peethala, and Shashikant Singh *Curtains Down*
Rohit Sharma, India captain: We played some good cricket throughout the tournament and this is the reward of all the hardwork throughout the tournament. I have been part of games like this before and credit to the guys in the middle to handle the pressure and to cross the finishing line was a fantastic effort. You have to give some credit to Bangladesh. They put us under pressure in the first 10 overs. We thought if the ball got older, the spinners would do the work for us. It was important to keep it tight and we have done that well throughout the tournament. If you have a team like that, the captain will always look good. It wouldn't be easy if we didn't have the support of the remaining 10 players, so I am really proud of the boys. I would like to thank the crowd, who have come out in huge numbers to support us throughout the tournament and I'm sure they're going back extremely pleased.
The winning team receives the Asia Cup special watches as well. Loud cheer for Rohit as he comes up to the podium to collect the winning team's cheque and for the interview.
Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh Captain: I hope we won a lot of hearts. We fought till the last ball, but we made a lot of mistakes on the field today - batting and bowling. We bowled really well, particularly if we made 240+ throughout the tournament. We asked the batsmen to make at least 260, but at the end of the day the bowlers did really well. I was asking the bowlers, but I wanted to bowl the quicks first, because I wanted to restrict the runs since they were going after us and trying to play shots at that stage. I wanted to leave the last over for Nazmul or Mahmudullah. I thought if the pacers bowled well from 45th over, then there was a good chance that there would be about 10 runs to defend in the last over.
Token watches being handed out to the runners-up side - Bangladesh. A fantastic journey for them, until the final.
Shikhar Dhawan, Man of the Tournament (342 runs @~70): Yeah I enjoyed this tournament. Fantastic final. Good tournament for me, enjoyed my batting, and hope to continue the same way. I enjoy playing it in a cool and matured manner. I was playing more calmly this time, and I want consistency and elegance at the same time. Rohit and I keep switching the aggressor's role sometimes, and I congratulate him for having a fantastic Asia Cup too.
Liton Das is the Man of the match for his 121(117). A fabulous knock to set the platform for Bangladesh.
______________
Interviews coming up...
Harsha Bhogle: Bangladesh did wonderfully well to take it as deep as they did. And the captain deserves a big part of the credit. Bangladesh looked poor midway into the tournament so this is a fine comeback
Bangladesh, oh Bangladesh. One's got to feel for them. It's 0-9 in knockouts for them now. 9 knockout losses, 0 wins - 5 of the losses, now, coming against India. They've worked extremely hard to get here, held their nerve in some crunch games, and managed to make it to the final. Mahmudullah, even in that final over, was fantastic - except the last ball. Defending six off the final over, even against a crippled Jadhav, was always going to be a challenge. But they've had their heart broken by their neighbors again. This one adds to the tally - World T20 2016, Nidahas Final, and now the Asia Cup final. They've managed to make the final of the Asia Cup 3 out of 4 times since 2012 and lost all three - by 2 runs in 2012, 8 wickets in 2016, and 3 wickets tonight. Someone go give them a hug, please.
India's run-chase was in tatters after a few early wickets. Rohit was still going along his merry way, but his dismissal against the run of play exposed the untested Indian middle-order - a middle-order that has given us a tie in the last Super 4 game, and nearly another one in the big final here today. An Indian fan or not, you've got to give it to them for the nail-biting contests. A defining moment, for me, was Bhuvi's six off Rubel. A fantastic hit that released the pressure. Another boundary off Fizz really brought the required rate down and then it was all down to the last over. It's one we are going to watch on a loop for days, perhaps months to come.
Ravi Shastri - It's a different format, but I think everyone knows how well we played in England, the scorecard really doesn't show it. This is a different format and we needed to start afresh. I liked the intensity with which we played, we were a bit flat against Hong Kong in the first match, but pulled up afterwards. The biggest plus was the fielding, game after game, we saved around 30-35 runs in these oppressive conditions. We took wickets consistently and during the middle-overs, the bowlers were outstanding, we bowled well with the new ball in tough conditions and then the spinners came to the party. Rohit was a calming influence and it showed on his captaincy. To keep his intensity going even after the start they had, showed he was really cool in every aspect of captaincy, the bowling changes he made were really good, to concede just around 100 runs in the last 30 overs, I thought it was brilliant.
Bhuvneshwar: Hong Kong was a wake-up call for me. When you come back from injury, it takes at least one game and that was the game for me. Don't want to give room to batsman. On these wickets, drive is an easy shot for batsman. So plan was to bowl back of a length. He's (Bumrah) an amazing bowler. We keep talking on our plans.
Ravindra Jadeja - I was almost out for 15 months and I wasn't feeling good. I want to play white-ball cricket, I just wanted to prove myself and improve on my game. You need to prove yourself when you get the opportunity, you need to show you are good enough. I just wanted to play my natural game, try and hit the ball well and win the game for my country.
Kuldeep: He (Jadhav) just told me to back myself and be careful while running. Wicket was good to bat on today, compared to the last game. More you play here, more you get better. First game I was struggling to get my line right. Have scored a lot of runs in first-class cricket, so qualify me as all-rounder.
Jadhav: I've been in this situation few months back. Knew field will be up in the end and will be easy to take one or two. The way Kuldeep batted gave me confidence too. I'm still a batsman who can bowl. It's at least Grade I or II tear. Let's see tomorrow.
Harsha Bhogle: The best team at the Asia Cup eventually wins it
23:54 Local Time, 01:24 IST: India have won, but they've been made to work for it. The fans don't have any fingernails left - a billion of them. Jadhav hasn't been allowed to take off his pads and is rushed into an interview by KP. Kuldeep is out there as well. And how good was he? Cool as a cucumber. Blood, sweat, tears and ecstasy - What a finale. Kedar "Hamstrung" Jadhav has done it again, on one leg, and for India this time. It took a few vital innings in the middle-order, including a stabilizing partnership between Dhoni and Karthik, and a few cameos, to edge them closer - and the lusty blows by Bhuvi at the end seriously eased it out for Jadhav's heroics in the final frame of the finale.
END OF OVER 50
6 Runs
IND: 223 - 7
1 1 2 0 1 L1
Kedar Jadhav
23 (27)
Kuldeep Yadav
5 (5)
Mahmudullah
6-0-33-1
Mahmudullah to Kedar Jadhav, leg byes, 1 run, fired in flat towards leg-stump, Kedar Jadhav misses the flick, but it goes off his pads towards the fine leg boundary and they steal a leg-bye to win the Asia Cup for the 7th time! Kedhar Jadhav carries India to glory with a bad hamstring! Oh imagine the headlines! Fireworks all over the stadium...
India win the Asia Cup for the 7th time! Confirming if it's a leg-bye.
Super over in case of a tie, FYI. 1 off 1.