‘Tamim walking out to bat boosted me’

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.

Sri Lanka's assistant coach Naveed Nawaz said he was surprised at Soumya Sarker being replaced through a concussion substitution in Bangladesh's four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the series-deciding third ODI in Chattogram on Monday.  

Opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim came in as Soumya's substitute and scored an 81-ball 84-run knock laced with nine fours and four sixes to help set up a successful chase. Tanzid may have missed out on a maiden ODI hundred but he recorded the most runs scored by a concussion substitute as he surpassed Marnus Labushagne's 80-run knock against South Africa last year. Labushagne replaced Cameron Green and his performances eventually secured him a place in Australia's World Cup squad.

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"We were surprised at the sub. Because we saw the footage and we saw him diving for the ball. He did not seem to have hit whatever it was during that incident. However, we have to respect the decision of the officials, which is the ICC Code of Conduct and the match referee's decision. I guess there are certain disciplines in the game of cricket, and I think we got to ride the rules," Nawaz said in the post-match press conference.

Soumya hurt himself in the 49th over of the first innings when he rolled over and crashed onto the advertising hoarding while trying to save a boundary. Initially, it appeared that he was feeling for his knee and upon the arrival of the physios, he was stretchered out of the field.

A press release sent by the Bangladesh Cricket Board read," Soumya Sarkar suffered an injury while fielding in the 3rd and final ODI in Chattogram and has been substituted as per the ICC's concussion replacement rules."

"Soumya fell hard while attempting to save a boundary and also hit the advertisement billboard. His head hit the ground in the process and he felt stiffness in the neck and also complained of a headache and vision difficulties. A SCAT5 assessment was done when he came off. He has also hurt his left knee," National team physio Bayjedul Islam Khan said. 

"We had applied for a concussion replacement and this has been approved," he added.

The ICC's ruling on concussion substitution reads, "If a player sustains a concussion or suspected concussion as a result of a head or neck injury during the course of the relevant match, a Concussion Replacement may be permitted in the following circumstances. A concussion or suspected concussion must have been formally diagnosed by the Team Medical Representative. The Team Medical Representative or Team Manager shall submit a Concussion Replacement Request to the ICC Match Referee on a standard form."

Bangladesh neither started well with the ball nor began well with the bat but came up with the right modus operandi during the crucial junctures of the game to pick up a comfortable six-wicket win in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Chattogram yesterday.

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto was the star of the show with a career-best score, holding the innings together but Mushfiqur Rahim, with an unbeaten 73, was not far behind. And neither was the impact left by Mahmudullah Riyad in the chase.

Shanto and Mushfiqur's unbroken 165-run partnership off 175 deliveries saw Bangladesh coast to victory but Mushfiqur heaped praise on the way Mahmudullah impacted the chase after the Tigers had slumped to three for 23.

"Our partnership was obviously good but ultimately the main partnership was from Riyad bhai and Shanto. The ball was new at that time and the dew did not start to affect the match. There was seam movement and they got early wickets. Riyad bhai and Shanto batted tremendously. The run-rate was manageable [after that]. We were never behind and did not need to do anything fancy," Mushfiqur said at the post-match press conference.

Shanto's 62-ball 69 fourth-wicket stand with Mahmudullah, who scored a run-a-ball 37, brought things under control before Mushfiqur and Shanto's unwavering and calculative partnership saw them home.

"It's called experience. He [Mahmudullah] danced down the track to [Wanindu] Hasaranga and hit a six. In such crucial moments when such things go for you, the bowling team thinks differently as best bowler is getting hit and those are the times that partnership builds. Shanto struggled a little early but it's a game of partnerships. In this game the first credit goes to their partnership. Foremost its Riyad bhai's because of the intent," Mushfiqur said.

Shanto had only recently been appointed as the three-format skipper and yesterday played the captain's knock during the unbeaten 122 off 129 deliveries, laced with 13 fours and two sixes.

Unable to break a trend of low scores in the recently-concluded BPL, Mushfiqur felt that players like Shanto need that responsibility to get the best out of themselves.
"When there is more responsibility on a person and he thinks about everything, I feel that some people play their best game in those situations. He is a guy of that kind of mentality that when he gets responsibility, he takes it as a challenge and overcomes it. I was personally confident that when he comes to the national team, he will start scoring runs from then on," the wicketkeeper-batter said.

Shanto capitalised on anything loose, with one top-edge going for six the only blip in his knock. Mushfiqur Rahim was all smiles after the skipper got to his ton, patting his head.
"Shanto is more fluent [than this] and dominates more. There is more to go. What changed is previously he would get a good start and score fifties or sixties but now he is playing big knocks, making the team win. Today after getting the ton, the way he just pushed a single to mid-on next delivery shows how much he is thinking of the team. During the important moments, he was saying that we need to get 20-30 contributions so that there is no chance," he added.

Veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim has been ruled out of the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka due to a fractured right thumb, chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu confirmed The Daily Star today.

"Mushfiqur Rahim fractured his right thumb during the third ODI against Sri Lanka. We can confirm he is out of the Test series. We will inform about the details of his injury and the likely replacement in time," Lipu said. 

The wicketkeeper-batter got hurt on his right thumb while gathering a delivery behind the stumps in the second over of the Sri Lanka innings, bowled by Taskin Ahmed.

The 36-year-old kept wickets for the whole innings and took four catches. He then went on to score an unbeaten 37, including the winning runs as Bangladesh won the series 2-1. 

"After the match, Mushfiqur underwent an X-ray examination in Dhaka, which revealed an avulsion fracture on the MIP joint of his right thumb.
"He is currently undergoing conservative management for his injury and is expected to be sidelined for around three to four weeks, consequently ruling him out of participation in the Test series against Sri Lanka," BCB physio Bayjedul Islam Khan was quoted as saying in a press release.

The first Test begins in Sylhet on March 22 while the second Test will get underway in Chattogram on March 29. Both Tests are part of the World Test Championship.