Tamim out of Asia Cup

It has become common knowledge that even though he played a delivery one-handed after coming in at number 11 to allow Bangladesh's innings to continue in Saturday's Asia Cup opener against Sri Lanka, a fractured wrist has effectively ruled Tamim Iqbal out of the rest of the event.

News has been doing the rounds that he will be out for six weeks, but there has not been any official confirmation from anyone within the BCB or team management. After Saturday's match, which Bangladesh won by 137 runs, captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said that they were not yet sure what would happen and that there would be another scan in two days. He will visit a specialist in Dubai tomorrow, who will decide whether he needs surgery.

"We have to have him checked by a specialist before saying anything official," said team manager Khaled Mahmud. "He is definitely out of the next match, we don't know about the rest. I don't know where the six-week figure came from; I have not heard a doctor say that."

If the dillydallying is to keep the other teams guessing about Bangladesh's most feared batsman, that can hardly be effective given that -- except India -- all the other teams are staying at the same hotel and can see Tamim's left arm in a sling. There seems to be very little sense in the ambiguity.

When Bangladesh take on India in the Asia Cup final in Dubai today, it will be a battle between two sides who have come to the title clash through highly contrasting routes and with widely divergent levels of confidence.

The match will start at 5:30pm (Bangladesh time) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

India had confirmed their place in the final by beating Pakistan by nine wickets on Sunday, the same day that Bangladesh had just managed to stay in contention with a three-run win over Afghanistan. India then rested their best players -- including captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan -- for their last Super Four match against Afghanistan, who were inspired by leg-spinner Rashid Khan into forcing a thrilling tie against the world's top-ranked ODI team on Tuesday.

The following day, Bangladesh woke to the news that ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan would follow opener and highest run-scorer Tamim Iqbal out of the tournament, but still rallied to beat two-time champions Pakistan by 37 runs in Abu Dhabi.

While that meant that Bangladesh made the final for the third time in the last four editions, it also meant that they would have one less day than the more-fancied India to recuperate after toiling in heat that they had never played in as a team.

There is also a contrast between the respective strengths of the sides. Bangladesh have routinely lost two wickets inside the first 10 overs and have played out the 50 overs only once in five matches. Meanwhile India have only lost more than three wickets on the two occasions when they played at less than full strength -- against Hong Kong in their first match when they lost seven wickets for 285 and against Afghanistan, when they were bowled out for 252.

"It was difficult [winning against Pakistan] with performers like Shakib and Tamim not playing," said Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza at the pre-final press conference yesterday. "The good thing that the boys have done is that they did not given up, although we lost to Afghanistan in the group stage and again against India [exactly a week before the final], but still they fought back.

"There are some concerns with our batting, but Mushfiqur [Rahim, the second-highest scorer in the tournament with 297 runs] is in great form. [Mohammad] Mithun is playing well, [Mahmudullah] Riyad also batted well. If our top order can click it will be fine. But again I think that India are a far better team -- number one in the world. They came here as favourites, but you never know, anything can happen on a good day. We have to be mentally strong and fight till the end."

While India will have a settled team, Bangladesh have not played the same team for two matches in succession throughout the tournament. The injuries have forced them to get creative, such as batting left-handed opener Imrul Kayes at six to combat Rashid's leg-spin on Sunday. There may be a change today, with left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam coming into replace batsman Mominul Haque to try and contain India's vaunted batting order.

Imrul could also slot back into the opening position, pulling Soumya down to the lower middle order. With the way things have gone, it is a fool's errand to guess their plans. Mashrafe also has an injury to his right little from when he spectacularly caught Pakistan's Shoaib Malik on Wednesday. However, there is no danger of the captain not playing in the title clash.

The crux of the battle may be in the top order because the two teams match up pretty evenly with the ball. Bangladesh have not conceded more than the 255 for seven Afghanistan scored against them last Thursday. As Mashrafe said, if it goes according to form, the top-ranked India should come out on top against the seventh-ranked Bangladesh. But if the Tigers can find the solution to the top order woes at the most opportune time, they will have performed above themselves and could conjure an unlikely result.

Bangladesh also have the invisible hand of momentum going in their favour, having won their last two matches with spirited performances.

However, it should also be remembered that they have never won a final, including a loss to India in the last Asia Cup final at home and in the Nidahas Trophy in March.

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal is expected to travel to England on Thursday to consult a specialised doctor about his left hand's fractured index finger knuckle. The southpaw sustained the injury during the Asia cup opener against Sri Lanka at the bowling of Suranga Lakmal and was subsequently ruled out of the tournament.

According to the Bangladesh Cricket Board's chief physician Debashish Chowdhury, the cricketer has already taken x-rays and the reports have already been sent to specialists in Australia and England.

"Tamim had his x-ray done and we have already sent that to England and Australia. We already received a response from England but we are still waiting for a response from Australia. At the moment we are sending him to England immediately to consult with doctor David, not for a surgery though as it will be better for the doctor to have a look at his injury in person," Debashish told The Daily Star yesterday.

Meanwhile, Tamim informed that he still experiences some pain in the injured area and he hopes that surgery will not be required.

"Many may have thought that I injured my wrist but that's not true as I have fractured the knuckle on my left hand's index finger. What we are worried about is whether the bone is placing in the right area or not and it's slightly away from where it should have been. The doctors are thinking that if I do a surgery now then my joint may get stiff so they are trying to settle this without surgery and if there is any problem in future they will work accordingly. The fracture is very close to the joint so let's see if the doctors say anything new but I will continue in a conservative way.

"I have an appointment with the doctor in England on Friday and I am expected to travel day after tomorrow [Thursday] where the doctor will change the plaster and have a look at the injured area," Tamim told The Daily Star yesterday.