It is critical too that Yuvraj Singh gets lots of time in the middle because he instils fear in the opposition too.
With the World T20 upon us in the now appropriated home of T20 cricket, the Asia Cup could serve as a valuable dress rehearsal. And much like the World T20, this is more open a tournament than has ever been. Part of it, of course, is due to the fact that you only need to show off your skills for a little while, but a greater part is because of a deeper understanding of this precocious child. It is a form made for the times we live in and as a more fearless generation enters the game, T20 becomes a more dramatic, if fleeting, exhibition of skills. The Asia Cup has traditionally been a two- or three-horse race, but recent home results put Bangladesh firmly amongst the contenders. For years, Bangladesh played one-dimensional cricket, putting a battery of slow bowlers out on spongy, somnolent pitches. It wasn’t attractive and it didn’t benefit anyone. Now, the Sher-e-Bangla stadium has a decent covering of grass on it, Bangladesh have pretty decent seamers and it wouldn’t be entirely inconceivable that they only went in with one front line spinner in their best player Shakib Al Hasan.
With the World T20 upon us in the now appropriated home of T20 cricket, the Asia Cup could serve as a valuable dress rehearsal. And much like the World T20, this is more open a tournament than has ever been. Part of it, of course, is due to the fact that you only need to show off your skills for a little while, but a greater part is because of a deeper understanding of this precocious child. It is a form made for the times we live in and as a more fearless generation enters the game, T20 becomes a more dramatic, if fleeting, exhibition of skills. The Asia Cup has traditionally been a two- or three-horse race, but recent home results put Bangladesh firmly amongst the contenders. For years, Bangladesh played one-dimensional cricket, putting a battery of slow bowlers out on spongy, somnolent pitches. It wasn’t attractive and it didn’t benefit anyone. Now, the Sher-e-Bangla stadium has a decent covering of grass on it, Bangladesh have pretty decent seamers and it wouldn’t be entirely inconceivable that they only went in with one front line spinner in their best player Shakib Al Hasan.
