Bangladesh suffered a 41-run defeat against India in their Asia Cup 2025 Super Four clash at the Dubai International stadium on September 24. Right after the match, Jaker Ali, who was Bangladesh's stand-in skipper in absence of Litton Das, rued team's defeat and said it was surprising but he takes it as a preparation.
Jaker Ali on Bangladesh's team combination for Pakistan match
Jaker also talked about the team combination for the clash against Pakistan as they made four changes to their playing XI in the game against India.
"It's quite surprising, but I take the preparation. All credit goes to the boys. They are adjusting well. After ten overs, they bowled really well. Big thanks to them. We can take lots of things from this game. We have another game tomorrow. We have to keep in our mind that we can win this match and qualify for the final. We will talk with the team management and let's see what combination they give. We will give our best tomorrow," Jaker said at the post-match presentation.
While this win has propelled India to the Asia Cup 2025 final, Bangladesh face a tricky situation as they will be locking horns with Pakistan on September 25 in a do-or-die Super Four clash. Whoever wins the match, will become the second finalist of Asia Cup 2025 besides India.
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Talking about the match, India began their innings at the Dubai International Stadium with a spectacular flourish, thanks to openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill, who put up 72 runs during the powerplay. Abhishek, in phenomenal form, smashed back-to-back half-centuries, scoring 75 runs off just 37 balls, while Gill chipped in with 29. Their partnership perfectly set the tone for a massive total.
However, once the openers departed, the middle order crumbled under pressure, exacerbated by batters not playing in their usual positions. Shivam Dube was promoted to number three but scored only two runs, and Suryakumar Yadav batted at four, managing just five runs off 11 balls. Further down, Tilak Varma made five off seven at number six, and Axar Patel scored only 10 off 15 at number seven. Hardik Pandya was the only one who maintained the scoring momentum, and his crucial 38-run knock ultimately helped India post a respectable total of 168 on the board. Curiously, keeper-batter Sanju Samson was demoted in the batting order and did not get a chance to bat at all.
In the chase, Saif Hassan was the lone torchbearer for Bangladesh, keeping his team in the hunt for a significant portion of the innings with a top score of 69. Unfortunately, he received minimal support from the other end. The second-highest score in the innings was just 21, contributed by Parvez Hossain Emon. Kuldeep Yadav remained the wrecker-in-chief for India who dismantled Bangladesh's batting line-up with a fiery 3/18