Prior to the Asia Cup 2018 final against India on Friday, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza reveals the moment of the tournament from which he gets inspiration.

Mortaza reveals that the Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal inspired them when he returned to bat against Sri Lanka in the tournament opener with the fractured left-wrist to just support the team and the set batsman Mushfiqur Rahim. Though he faced the only ball in that last moment with the help of only fit hand, his re-appearing in the game helped Bangladesh to achieve a good fighting total that led them to a great victory.

At the pre-match press conference, Mortaza said, “Let me be honest, the moment Tamim entered the field against Sri Lanka as the last man to help Mushfiqur score those runs, my Asia Cup was won.”

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This will be Bangladesh’s third Asia Cup final appearances (including both the ODI and T20I formats) in last four Asia Cup tournaments. In 2012 Asia Cup (ODI format), the hosts Bangladesh reached to final for the first time in tournament history and was very close to winning that against Pakistan but lost the game by just two runs.

Also read: Asia Cup 2018 (Final): India vs Bangladesh – Match Preview

In 2016 T20 Asia Cup, again the hosts Bangladesh reached to the final and this time they met against India where the opposition beat them by 8 wickets.

Comparing their previous final journeys with the Asia Cup 2018 final, Mortaza said, “Every tournament has been a distinct journey whether 2012 final against Pakistan or 2016 against India. Every time we encountered a few situations, overcame them and got into the finals.

“This journey in this tournament was a difficult one as we started losing players from the very first game (Tamim Iqbal). There was also concern whether Mushfiqur Rahim could play or not but then he played despite not being fully fit. We can learn from him.”

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Bangladesh skipper admits that India is the far better team, but he assures that they will fight till the last ball with the strong mentality.

Mortaza said, “I think India is a far better team, they are number one in the world, they came here as the favourites, but then you never know, anything can happen. So, we will have to be mentally strong and fight till the last ball. It’s important to keep our emotion in check.”