Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian skipper and cricket commentator, has opined on Thursday (September 27) that Bangladesh deserves to be in the summit clash of the Asia Cup 2018 and if Men in Blue take them lightly, then they could be in for a surprise in Dubai.
Gavaskar is well aware of the fact that India is heading to the final with an 11-match unbeaten streak in the Asia Cup, but they still cannot afford to get complacent against a resurgent Bangladesh.
While making his point valid, former skipper believes that the way the Tigers made an excellent comeback in the six-nation event, nothing can be said about the result on Friday (September 28).
Gavaskar told India Today, “This is not an anti-climax. Bangladesh fully deserves to be in the final. It's about time we should stop thinking that only India and Pakistan matter. The kind of support that Bangladesh have and their fans throng the stadium. They are absolute fanatics.”
Many cricket pundits and fans were predicting before the tournament even began that final would be played between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, but Bangladesh surprised them by making it to the final. While Gavaskar doesn’t believe that it's an anti-climax, as they have played exceedingly well in the tournament so far and deserves to play against India.
He further added, “They are as ardent fans of their team as the Indian fans are. I don't think it is fair to say it's an anti-climax. Bangladesh fully deserve their place in the finals because they made an excellent comeback against Afghanistan and have played exceedingly well so far. If India takes them lightly they could be in for a surprise.”
Despite not having their premier players Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh is doing brilliantly well and India should be wary of the threat in Mushfiqur in the final, says Gavaskar.
Gavaskar signed off by saying, “Mushfiqur has been batting absolutely brilliantly both his knocks against Afghanistan and Pakistan were terrific efforts. Despite the fact that two of their stalwarts (Shakib and Tamim) are not in the team they have done really well and fully deserve to be in the final.”
