Ravenous Rubel

Liton Das has been one of the more maligned junior national cricketers in Bangladesh, because the perception is that he was wasting his considerable talent with the bat. To watch him play a cover drive and to witness that extra fraction of a second that he has to play the ball is to realise that he could grow to be one of the better batsmen produced by the country. However, seeing him throw away countless good starts with bad shots tempered those expectations considerably.

In the just-concluded Asia Cup, he took up the poisoned chalice of being Tamim Iqbal's opening partner -- a position that no one has been able to make his own despite being given enough opportunities. He scored a 42-ball 43 against Afghanistan in their Super Four game on Sunday, but as seemed typical then, he squandered the start with a wild slog sweep.

In Friday's final against India, Liton moved past all of that with a 117-ball 121 and showed why he has been persisted with. He also proved that, when it comes to possible candidates for the position of Tamim's opening partner, he is the first among equals. If he does make the transition, the innings provided a glimpse into how devastating an opening pair of Tamim and Liton could be.

India's pace attack is a formidable one, and the fiery Jasprit Bumrah had been allowed to settle into his rhythm thus far in the tournament. Liton however displayed that quality that is the bedrock of all batsmen for whom aggression is the modus operandi -- he backed himself to go after the opposition's most feared bowler.

Bumrah bowls above 140 kmph, but Liton repeatedly stepped out to him and hammered boundaries. Bumrah ended his third over, after Liton advanced down the wicket and hit the fast bowler off mid on, having conceded 23 runs. That put the pressure on India's spinners who had thus far come on and benefited from the pacers' economy in their opening spells. Liton took care of that, hitting leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for big sixes, choosing his areas carefully.

But there was then the typical moment of madness when, just having completed his 50 off 33 deliveries, he went for a wild slog sweep off Kuldeep Yadav. This time, however, he survived as Chahal dropped the catch at mid on.

But what happened then was what will give fans the most hope. Liton saw skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's chest thump from the dressing room asking him to stay strong, and the youngster responded. He chose to play mostly along the ground, picking areas shrewdly for his boundaries. As wickets started falling at regular intervals at the other end, Liton did not throw it away but actually slowed down to complete his maiden century off 87 balls. He kept batting responsibly before a marginal stumping decision, off a defensive shot, ended arguably the innings of the tournament.

It is early days yet, but if Liton can keep mixing his penchant for dominance with thoughtful batting, it will be an auspicious development for Bangladesh cricket.

It would not be an injustice in any way if the Cricket Gods allow Mashrafe Bin Mortaza to lift the Asia Cup trophy with his firm hands at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium today to bring smiles on the faces of the millions of cricket-crazy people in our country.

However, the question is how realistic that dream is. India will go into the final today tagged as 'overwhelming favourites' after enjoying an unbeaten run in the tournament while the Tigers endured a bumpy ride.

Although India are favourites in today's final, Bangladesh can draw on the inspiration provided by the lion-hearted Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and their (bellow) raucous support in Dubai to perhaps seal what would be their most famous success. PHOTO: AFP FILE

While it is true that Bangladesh have overcome many odds to reach the final, many will say: "It's India man! And don't forget there is no Shakib Al Hasan or Tamim Iqbal."

However, a Midas touch from one man can change all the equations and realistic views.

He has given proof of that many times in his fairytale career and he did it again in this tournament too with a traditionally charismatic approach.

When Bangladesh left the country, they had high hopes of achieving glory. Things took a turn and there was plenty of drama in the opener against Sri Lanka, all of which was eventually overshadowed by Tamim Iqbal's unbelievable courage. However, the man who motivated the left-hander was none other than his inspirational skipper.

Tamim's loss had a huge impact as the two new openers failed to find their feet and two defeats to Afghanistan and India made things difficult for the captain, who was tasked with putting the pieces back together and reigniting their hopes. Then the controversial decision to include openers Imrul Kayes and Soumya Sarkar apparently unsettled the team but hope never faded as that colossal man was at the helm.

He stuck to two young openers despite their failures and the hard-fought victory against Afghanistan in the Super Four promised something good was coming to the team.

Alas! The Cricket Gods threw another monumental challenge at the man as Shakib Al Hasan was ruled out ahead of the do-or-die match against Pakistan.

The rest is history.

Mashrafe's stunning catch to dismiss dangerman Shoaib Malik might be publicised most but the way he charged up his men and marshalled the fielding, apart from a good bowling effort, only provided more proof why this man is special.

So, do not only consider logistics when this inspirational man is around. If anyone deserves this prestigious trophy, it is Mashrafe, even more so at the fag end of his career.

It is a twist of fate that two different Asia Cups have been witness to two stages in Bangladesh's evolution. Along with evolution, of course, comes growth amid turmoil and Bangladesh have had much of both in the 2012 tournament and the ongoing one in the UAE where they will contest for the trophy against overwhelming favourites India.

In 2012, Bangladesh were rank outsiders but they surprised all pre-tournament forecasts by outclassing both Sri Lanka and India before enduring the heartbreak of losing the final by a mere two runs against Pakistan. 'So near, yet so far' was the soundtrack of heartbreak then, but years later cricketers and fans alike look back at that tournament wistfully as the point where Bangladesh cricket matured into a force to be reckoned with.

Six years later, however, it is a different evolution but it has come with the same growing pains. For long, even after their previous step up, the Tigers had been a team that could come up with stellar performances but tended to lose the plot when there were setbacks. And it was a certain kind of setback that hurt them the most: a loss of form or absence of one or more of the five cricketers who have thus far lifted Bangladesh to its greatest heights: skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad. Incidentally, all of these cricketers were part of their first real ascension to cricketing prominence in 2012.

Now, however, the two cricketers from that bunch who have done more than any other to change perceptions and expectations of Bangladesh cricket -- Tamim and Shakib -- are out of the Asia Cup with injuries. In 2012, Shakib was the player of the series and Tamim had hit four consecutive half-centuries.

With Tamim already having flown home on September 18 with a fracture to his left hand, Shakib's absence was a shock to the team on the morning of their virtual semifinal against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Yet, just as the team had somehow found a way to win Sunday's match against Afghanistan without Tamim to stay in contention for the final, they roared into the final with a bowling and fielding performance worthy of Tigers against Pakistan to win by 37 runs around the time that Shakib was unpacking his bags in Dhaka.

"Both tournaments have their separate respect and value. In 2012 we could not win anything, we won rarely," said Mashrafe in the pre-final press conference at the hotel yesterday, a rest day after the exertions of the Pakistan match in the searing heat. "We won against big teams on the odd day. Now we were at a stage that whenever we won big matches, our best performers were Shakib, Tamim and Mushfiqur on most occasions. Mustafizur [Rahman] too. But to come to this stage without our two best players is a big achievement. The boys can feel proud of it, but there is still one match, if they can give their best shot I hope it will be a good match."

It was not too long ago that this was not the case. In South Africa last October Bangladesh surrendered without a whimper without Shakib in the Tests, and in the ODIs without Tamim in the last two matches. In the home tri-series final against Sri Lanka in January, they lost the plot after Shakib left the field with injury -- the same one to the left little finger that requires surgery now -- and succumbed to defeat not just in that match but in the following Test and T20I series.

Evolution, of course, retains the toughest and best bits from the past and Bangladesh have retained the toughest component in the skipper, who has inspired the team with bold decisions throughout the tournament, and the masterful Mushfiqur -- whose batting throughout has compensated for top-order failures. Regardless of who wins today, Bangladesh will be richer for having evolved into a team that can overcome the harshest setbacks and come out on top.