Tigers keep cards close to chest

"Ha! Tickets? I doubt whether even I'll be able to get in or not!" a leading cricketer spoke into his phone yesterday, one would assume jokingly, after being asked to provide tickets for tomorrow's Asia Cup T20 final while he was relaxing after training at the Mirpur Indoor.

Even officials of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) fear receiving phone calls so that they can avoid the heartfelt requests from their nearest and dearest and the cricketers were no exception. Tickets have became as elusive as quicksilver. Everyone was crying for it as everyone wants to be a part of tomorrow's festivities -- and maybe even history -- as Bangladesh and India vie for regional glory.

The excitement was boiling over as fans have been hoping for a momentous Sunday after the home side, under the leadership of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, romped into the final by beating Pakistan in a format where they have long been considered novices.

However, there is no scope for the Tigers to be driven by emotions; rather they need to chalk out the best plan with their available resources to put another glorious feather on their already illustrious cap by beating India, a team that is without doubt strong enough in all three departments.

The whole nation will be waiting to see what surprise their beloved Tigers spring on Sunday evening. Put aside the result, the question was there whether the Tigers' think-tank has been planning anything different for the team combina tion to pull off a surprise for their opponents. It seemed that they have been, going by the vibe during yesterday's practice session.

True, in the shortest format, an over can completely change the complexion of a match but one should apply their best strategy in such a crunch match. "Freedom of expression" and "playing to your own strengths" seemed to be the mantra for the Tigers in recent times and they definitely will go with that mantra in the final. And apparently the inspirational Mashrafe endeavoured to make his boys enjoy everything, rather than take any pressure.

Prior to the tournament, there was hardly anybody who believed that Bangladesh would play the final in this format, seeing off teams like Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Of course they may not become a superpower in the shortest format by winning those games, but undoubtedly those games have given them confidence.

Apart from brave-heart captain Mashrafe, Bangladesh has a shrewd tactician in their tent who is none other than their coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who has proved time and again that he has got the courage to gamble with strategy.

Bangladesh's bowling has proved to be their strongest department, so the biggest question is: will Bangladesh fire with their four-pronged pace attack? Pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman's absence due to injury has made things difficult, but if there is some spice in the track, Bangladesh may try to terrorise their strong opponents with a four-pronged attack. The decision would hardly come as a surprise, putting aside Abu Haider Rony's inexperience and the fact that he has not played a single match in the tournament.

Despite wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Bangladesh's weak link is their batting, so a different batting order is likely. But Bangladesh's biggest problem is with their number seven batsman as they are yet to find someone who can go and hit all around the ground. One cannot expect Mashrafe to go to the number seven positions to hit some boundaries everyday like he did against Pakistan.

It is hard to predict what kind of combination the home side will go with, but the feeling was that the Tigers will challenge India with something different.