The inaugural Asia Cup has been full of surprises with Pakistan being the first team to be eliminated from it and India being eliminated from it on the final round of group stage matches leaving Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to play against each other in the final at Mumbai. Journalist Lee Payne interviewed fans in Mumbai.
Lee Payne: Was it a surprise for you when your team qualified for the final of the Asia Cup?
Bangladesh Fan: Yes. I admit Bangladesh are not as good as India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka, but they have good team spirit and they showed that against Pakistan in their final group stage match. Pakistan smashed Sri Lanka when they were batting in their first group stage match but Bangladesh bowled them out for three runs. I was very surprised and very proud.
Sri Lanka Fan: I think that India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka had an even chance of qualifying for the final of the Asia Cup. They are very good teams but Sri Lanka have played better than the rest to do the job. I was surprised to see that Bangladesh were also going to play in the final, but teams don't qualify for a final without playing well. I'm happy for them.
Schedule
25th March: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka* at Mumbai
*predicted winners
The ICC have announced that they have recorded the inaugural Asia Cup as a success, but they may consider increasing the alloted number of overs per side to ten for future tournaments.
"The ICC have recorded the Asia Cup as a success and are strongly looking at organising another tournament in the near future, but with some modifications to it," said a spokesperson.
Proposed modifications include the following:
- Increase the alloted number of overs per side to ten
- Abolish fielding restrictions
- Use only host country instead of using multiple countries
[*] Abolish fielding restrictions