Tamim Iqbal and Rubel Hossain missed flight to UAE for Asia Cup

The 2018 Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates is set to start on September 15. India are the defending champions as they beat Bangladesh in the final back in 2016. Bangladesh are yet to win the tournament. On two occasions in 2012 and 2016, they couldn’t get over the line in a couple of closely-fought contests. In the meantime, a couple of their players are in a bit of trouble.

Bangladesh national cricket team were scheduled to fly to Dubai at 7:30 pm Local Time on Sunday, however, Tamim Iqbal and Rubel Hossain, two of their gun players, didn’t travel with the team as they didn’t get their passports back on time. However, it has also been learned that the two players will get their passports back on Monday as per reports in bdcrictime.com.

Tough road ahead for the Tigers

Subsequently, the experienced campaigners can join their teams on the coming Tuesday or Wednesday. Shakib Al Hasan, their vice-captain, is currently in the United States of America (USA) and will directly join the team from there. Left-handed batsman Mominul Haque has been added to the squad recently and that has increased the squad members from 15 to 16.

As far as the Asia Cup is concerned, Bangladesh are placed in Group B along with Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Their first match is scheduled against Sri Lanka at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, September 15. Thereafter, Mashrafe Mortaza’s men will play Afghanistan at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on September 20.

Bangladesh recently played ODI and T20I series against the Windies and won both the series. They are yet to win any multi-nation event and would be hoping to turn their fortunes around in the series. They will also play the 50-over World Cup in England and Wales next year. Most importantly, the team would be keen to go a step ahead and win the final of the Asia Cup, provided they reach that far.

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