Hope never dies. The 59-run defeat against New Zealand might have faded the Tigers’ chance of reaching the Super Eights stage of the ICC World Twenty20 but
the Tigers, as well as 160 million people at home, will definitely be praying for a Kiwi victory against Pakistan in today’s Group D match at the Pallekele International Stadium.
It will become a straight equation for the Tigers if New Zealand win the game against favourites Pakistan. Everybody knows how tough it would be to beat a team like Pakistan on September 25 at the same venue but a New Zealand win will at least keep hopes alive for Mushfiqur Rahim’s men.
“It would be fantastic if New Zealand win this match,” said dashing left-handed batsman Tamim Iqbal. But he was very aware of the fact that it would not be an easy task for the Black Caps to beat Pakistan despite their easy sail against the Tigers. What the Chittagonian believes is that the 2009 champions Pakistan have all the necessary weapons to excel in the fourth version of the tournament.
All-rounder Nasir Hossain, who spoke to the Bangladesh media yesterday, however informed that they were not talking about this match but instead focussing on their next challenge against Pakistan on September 25. Bangladesh opted to take a rest yesterday which raised many eyebrows because many believe the coach should have at least given his charges a strong message stressing that a repeat of their shoddy performance against New Zealand, especially their fielding, will have dire consequences.
“We have not talked about it (about Pakistan-New Zealand match). It will become a straight equation if New Zealand win but we are thinking of September 25. We have to beat Pakistan to have any hope of staying in the tournament. We had a poor match yesterday and we dropped our standards. Everyone is keen to give a good account of themselves against Pakistan,” said a confident Nasir, who made a fifty against New Zealand.
-With The Daily Star input
