India captain Rohit Sharma celebrates after scoring a century against Pakistan and India at the Dubai International Stadium. AFP
India captain Rohit Sharma celebrates after scoring a century against Pakistan and India at the Dubai International Stadium. AFP
India captain Rohit Sharma celebrates after scoring a century against Pakistan and India at the Dubai International Stadium. AFP
India captain Rohit Sharma celebrates after scoring a century against Pakistan and India at the Dubai International Stadium. AFP

Asia Cup 2018 final: how India and Bangladesh reached the championship game


Paul Radley
  • English
  • Arabic

Asia Cup 2018 final

Who: India v Bangladesh

When: Friday, 3.30pm, Dubai International Stadium

Watch: Live on OSN Cricket HD

India take on Bangladesh at Dubai International Stadium on Friday for the right to be crowned 2018 Asia Cup winners.

India drew with Afghanistan in their final Super Four match in Dubai on Tuesday with qualification to the championship game already assured, while Bangladesh secured their passage with a convincing 37-run win over Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday thanks largely to Mushfiqur Rahim's fighting 99.

We take a look at how each team reached the final.

Route to the final

India

Group A

Beat Hong Kong by 26 runs

Beat Pakistan by eight wickets

Super Four

Beat Bangladesh by seven wickets

Beat Pakistan by nine wickets

Tied with Afghanistan

Bangladesh

Group B

Beat Sri Lanka by 137 runs

Lost to Afghanistan by 136 runs

Super Four

Lost to India by seven wickets

Beat Afghanistan by three runs

Beat Pakistan by 37 runs

Super Four – final table

(P, W, L, Tied, Pts)

1 India 3 2 0 1 5 0.863

2 Bangladesh 3 2 1 0 4 -0.156

3 Pakistan 3 1 2 0 2 -0.599

4 Afghanistan 3 0 2 1 1 -0.044

Leading run-scorers

1 Shikhar Dhawan (India), 327

2 Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh), 297

3 Rohit Sharma (India), 269

Leading wicket-takers

1 Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), 10

2 Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), 8

3= Jasprit Bumrah (India), Ravindra Jadeja (India), Kuldeep Yadav (India), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), all have taken 7

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Read more:

Bangladesh captain lauds Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammed Mithin after reaching Asia Cup final

Afghanistan prove they are no 'walkover' after thrilling Asia Cup tie against India

Mahmudullah: Bangladesh top-order needs to improve ahead of Asia Cup clash with Pakistan

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma hit hundreds as India thrash Pakistan in Asia Cup

__________________

Key clashes

Rohit Sharma v Mustafizur Rahman

Stopping a man who is averaging 134.5 in the tournament so far is no easy task. But if anyone can, Mustafizur can.

Even though he was impotent when the sides met in the Super Four, Mustafizur still has good memories of playing India.

He has 13 wickets in five ODIs against them, including his career best figures, and he has dismissed Rohit in three of those games. Plus, he is on a high after his match-winning four wickets against Pakistan.

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Ravindra Jadeja v Mushfiqur Rahim

Two days before the first meeting between these two sides, Jadeja was minding his own business playing a domestic game in India.

Then Hardik Pandya suffered injury, Jadeja was flown to Dubai, rushed straight into the starting XI, and was man of the match against Bangladesh.

One of his victims was Mushfiqur. The 21 that Mushfiqur made in that game was his lowest return at what has been a highly-productive tournament for the Bangladesh wicket-keeper batsman.

Shikhar Dhawan v Mehidy Hasan

Dhawan is out on his own at the top of the run-chart for this tournament, his haul of 327 being 30 more than the next best.

That includes two centuries. Not bad for a player who many were calling for to be dropped after his horror tour of the UK.

Mehidy was miserly but wicketless in the first game between these teams, but will likely get an early crack at Dhawan if Bangladesh continue with the plan of opening the bowling with his off-spin.

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UAE%20SQUAD
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David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

How Beautiful this world is!
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
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Haemoglobin disorders explained

Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.

Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.

The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.

The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.

A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.

Test series fixtures

(All matches start at 2pm UAE)

1st Test Lord's, London from Thursday to Monday

2nd Test Nottingham from July 14-18

3rd Test The Oval, London from July 27-31

4th Test Manchester from August 4-8

UAE%20ILT20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMarquee%20players%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMoeen%20Ali%2C%20Andre%20Russell%2C%20Dawid%20Malan%2C%20Wanindu%20Hasiranga%2C%20Sunil%20Narine%2C%20Evin%20Lewis%2C%20Colin%20Munro%2C%20Fabien%20Allen%2C%20Sam%20Billings%2C%20Tom%20Curran%2C%20Alex%20Hales%2C%20Dushmantha%20Chameera%2C%20Shimron%20Hetmyer%2C%20Akeal%20Hosein%2C%20Chris%20Jordan%2C%20Tom%20Banton%2C%20Sandeep%20Lamichhane%2C%20Chris%20Lynn%2C%20Rovman%20Powell%2C%20Bhanuka%20Rajapaksa%2C%20Mujeeb%20Ul%20Rahman%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInternational%20players%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3ELahiru%20Kumara%2C%20Seekugge%20Prassanna%2C%20Charith%20Asalanka%2C%20Colin%20Ingram%2C%20Paul%20Stirling%2C%20Kennar%20Lewis%2C%20Ali%20Khan%2C%20Brandon%20Glover%2C%20Ravi%20Rampaul%2C%20Raymon%20Reifer%2C%20Isuru%20Udana%2C%20Blessing%20Muzarabani%2C%20Niroshan%20Dickwella%2C%20Hazaratullah%20Zazai%2C%20Frederick%20Klassen%2C%20Sikandar%20Raja%2C%20George%20Munsey%2C%20Dan%20Lawrence%2C%20Dominic%20Drakes%2C%20Jamie%20Overton%2C%20Liam%20Dawson%2C%20David%20Wiese%2C%20Qais%20Ahmed%2C%20Richard%20Gleeson%2C%20James%20Vince%2C%20Noor%20Ahmed%2C%20Rahmanullah%20Gurbaz%2C%20Navin%20Ul%20Haq%2C%20Sherfane%20Rutherford%2C%20Saqib%20Mahmood%2C%20Ben%20Duckett%2C%20Benny%20Howell%2C%20Ruben%20Trumpelman%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Winners

Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)

Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)

Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)

Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)

Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)

Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)

Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)

Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)

THREE
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Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
​​​​​​​Bloomsbury Academic

RESULTS

5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
Winner: Ferdous, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-3 Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 2,400m
Winner: Basmah, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6pm: UAE Arabian Derby Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 2,200m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6.30pm: Emirates Championship Group 1 (PA) Dh1,000,000 2,200m
Winner: Somoud, Patrick Cosgrave, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
7pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Group 3 (TB) Dh380,000 2,200m
Winner: GM Hopkins, Patrick Cosgrave, Jaber Ramadhan
7.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Conditions (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: AF Al Bairaq, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

THE BIO

Ms Al Ameri likes the variety of her job, and the daily environmental challenges she is presented with.

Regular contact with wildlife is the most appealing part of her role at the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.

She loves to explore new destinations and lives by her motto of being a voice in the world, and not an echo.

She is the youngest of three children, and has a brother and sister.

Her favourite book, Moby Dick by Herman Melville helped inspire her towards a career exploring  the natural world.

Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt

Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure

Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers

Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised

Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels

Asia Cup 2018 final

Who: India v Bangladesh

When: Friday, 3.30pm, Dubai International Stadium

Watch: Live on OSN Cricket HD