Can Tigers reach Asia Cup 2018 final?

Bangladesh pacer Shoriful Islam pointed out that the wealth of experience amongst players of his side gave them the edge in the historic 2-0 Test series win against Pakistan last week. 

Wicket-keeper batter Mushfiqur Rahim is 10 matches away from playing 100 Tests, while Shakib Al Hasan (69) and Mominul Islam (63) were the other two amongst the Tigers' ranks to have played more than 50 Tests. Meanwhile, in the Pakistan camp, former skipper Babar Azam (54) was the only player to have crossed the half-century mark and the closest to the premier batter was current skipper Shan Masood with 35 matches. 

"We had a greater chance of winning as we had more experienced players," Shoriful said in a video message on Bangladesh Cricket Board's Facebook page on Sunday.

"You can look at the contrast in the number of matches played between players of each side. Shakib [Al Hasan] always pointed it out; Mushfiqur Rahim is our most experienced player. He has played 91 or 92 [90] Tests. Those examples were set in our minds. We were ahead of them and we could win was the thought for us."

The left-arm pacer also credited the preparation Bangladesh were able to get, courtesy of an early arrival in Pakistan, for the wins. Bangladesh could not train and the team's foreign coaches could not come to the country owing to the political crisis last month. 

"I think the preparation in Lahore helped us because of the facilities that were available to us. It was hotter in Lahore than it was in Rawalpindi. That helped us to gain an advantage," Shoriful said.

Shoriful played a key part in Bangladesh's 10-wicket win in the first Test at Rawalpindi. He struck in back-to-back overs in the first session on Day 1, removing Shan Masood and Babar Azam, which gave the visitors a solid start. He picked up another scalp in the second innings to help his side to a historic victory. The 23-year-old was ruled out of the second Test due to injury and was replaced by Taskin Ahmed. 

Bangladesh's next assignment will take them across the border in India where they will play two Tests and three T20Is. The series starts with the first Test on September 19.

"India are comparatively a more experienced side than Pakistan in Tests. They are a big team. I think if we do well against a big team then more people worldwide will follow us and watch our cricket," Shoriful said.

The 2022 Asia Cup will be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while still being officially hosted by Sri Lanka, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) said in a statement on Wednesday. The ACC said that the tournament has been moved to the UAE "considering the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka". It will be played between August 27 and September 11.

"Considering the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, the ACC after extensive deliberation has unanimously concluded that it would be appropriate to relocate the tournament from Sri Lanka to the UAE," the ACC said in a statement.

Sri Lanka has been reeling under economic and political turmoil. However, they had hosted Australia in a bilateral series and are currently hosting Pakistan. The ACC said that it had made every effort to host the tournament in the country.

"Every effort was made to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the decision to shift the venue to the UAE was taken after much deliberation. The UAE will be the new venue while Sri Lanka will continue to retain hosting rights," ACC president Jay Shah was quoted as saying. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly had earlier said that the tournament had been moved out of Sri Lanka to the UAE.

This will make it the second consecutive time that the tournament will be played in the UAE. The six-team Asia Cup will be played as a T20 tournament this year. India are the defending champions, having won the tournament in 2018 while it was still played in the ODI format.

The Asia Cup will be played in T20 format this time and serve as preparation for the World Cup in October. It will start with a qualifying round of matches between UAE, Kuwait, Singapore and Hong Kong. The winner will go on to the main tournament and play Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Bangladesh bowlers, led by off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz, had a field day on Day 2 of the second Test against Pakistan at the Rawalpindi Stadium yesterday as their efforts bundled out the hosts for 274. 

Miraz picked up his 10th five-wicket haul in the format, making the best use of the moderate assistance the spinners had on a batting-friendly Rawalpindi surface on the second day after the first was washed out due to incessant rain.

Bangladesh openers Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan had two overs to negotiate late in the day which they were able to do unscathed as they managed 10 runs on the board. It wasn't smooth sailing, however, as Shadman was presented a reprieve (on nought) by Saud Shakeel, who dropped the left-handed opener on the very first delivery of the innings off the bowling of left-arm pacer Mir Hamza.

The bowlers delivered after Bangladesh put Pakistan in to bat first.

Taskin Ahmed, who came into the playing Xi in place of injured Shoriful Islam, got things going for the visitors with a sizzling opening spell which starred a spearing in-swinger that sniped through the defences of opener Abdullah Shafique.

Pakistan took control of proceedings after that initial jitter as skipper Shan Masood (57) and Saim Ayub put together a 107-run stand before Miraz dismissed the former soon after lunch, trapping the left-handed batter lbw with one that gripped the surface. Having maintained strict lines through the day, Miraz used variations of length intelligently. That is how he dismissed Ayub, who scored 58, as he enticed the lefty with a flighted one outside off which ripped past the bat and found the gloves of Liton Das, who whipped the bails off, leaving Ayub stranded outside the crease.

Once the tail was exposed, Miraz came back in the last session to take three more, courtesy of a cat-and-mouse game of lengths he used to great effect throughout the day.

Miraz and Taskin were aptly supported by Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana. It seemed like a regular day at work for Hasan, who vigilantly flirted along the corridor outside off-stump and maintained strict lines and lengths.

But it was far more impressive to see Rana's discipline. The 21-year-old was expensive in the previous Test and has a tendency to lose his bearings at times but he showed up, totally sorted with the task at hand, and picked up the prized wicket of Mohammad Rizwan (29) which exposed Pakistan's tail and helped the Tigers bowl the hosts out faster.

While a few chances went begging, courtesy of missed catches, spirits remained high due to the disciplined efforts of the bowlers and it is up to the batters to pull their weight from the start of Day 3.