People's champions

The Asia Cup final took cricket fans by storm with Bangladesh winning hearts of millions across the world including the high and mighty. Minutes after Pakistan pulled off the heist, their second title in the tournament's history, tweets and Facebook posts poured into the internet.

Top of the pile has to be Indian film legend Amitabh Bachchan who tweeted immediately after the nail-biting affair ended at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

In a string of messages, the iconic hero of Bollywood expressed his excitement of watching the Tigers in action and praised the team.
"Pakistan win Asia Cup... Congratulations! But what a game Bangladesh played... Well done! Nail-biting, prayer invoking finish!"

"For Bangladesh, one of the more recent entries into international cricket... You have shown immense quality and guts and talent!!"

"Two runs!! Could been either way… One winner eventually... Heartbreaking for Bangladeshis... Never mind, you were a plucky loser!"

One of the greatest batsmen in cricket history, Brian Lara, said in his Facebook page status that he got emotional watching the players shed tears: "I felt very sad seeing the people and the players crying. Could be either ways. Bangladesh lost, but won the hearts of million people, in fact they won everything except the Cup! Be aware world, Bangladesh is the new terror!"

Editor of The Cricketer magazine Andrew Miller, who is among the leading cricket writers and a self-confessed fan of Bangladesh cricket, constantly followed the game and at one stage tweeted a classic: "I think I can hear Mirpur from Long Eaton Station".

Dileep Premachandran, editor-in-chief of Wisden India, wondered what might have been.

"Congratulations to Pakistan. Much to be proud of for Stuart Law and his boys. If Shakib had stayed..."

Even Lalit Modi, the exiled cricket organiser, felt that Bangladesh deserved the most wishes: "Sad for Bangladesh. But they deserve the biggest congratulations. Great game. Nail biting finish. Well done."

The readers of The Daily Star also flooded the newspaper's website with comments.

Ash wrote, "You've done the unthinkable and made it clear that these incidents are not unthinkable from now onwards", while Ishtiaque from Michigan said, "Apart from what happened today, we are very proud of our cricket team. YES, we are disappointed, make no mistake about it, but we all KNOW this is just the BEGINNING. Hats off to the Tigers !!!"

Syed Sohail Ahmed wrote: "I am a Pakistani but I must say that Bangladeshi team won the heart of all of us. Your team is living in our hearts. Keep it up."