Members of Bangladesh cricket team reunited in Birmingham on Saturday after a five-day break, looking ahead to their next match against India in the World Cup with a fresh body and mind.
With two matches left, the Tigers still stand with a chance to qualify for the semi-final of the tournament provided they win both the games and a few other results come their way.
The team marshaled by Mashrafee bin Murtaza has so far done reasonably well in seven matches with an equal win-loss ratio as one of their matches against Sri Lanka got rained off.
The challenge ahead of the team, however, is enormous as they have to face favourites India in their next match before a potentially knock-out contest against Pakistan at Lord’s on July 5.
India were expected to test their character with a strong batting line-up and a vastly improved bowling unit that have kept them unbeaten so far in the tournament.
Bangladesh, however, are not in a position to be awed by the enormity of the opponents and must come out with a plan that will keep them afloat in the tournament.
‘In the current stage of the tournament, we don’t have the scope to think about India or any other team,’ said batsman Mosaddek Hossain on Saturday.
‘India is definitely a tough opposition. I think the cricket we are playing currently if we can continue that we can get a good result against India,’ he added.
Bangladesh will feel motivated from their performances in the last three matches when they defeated West Indies and gave Australia some butterflies in their stomach before outplaying Afghanistan.
The Tigers had had some struggles in the tournament as well, leaking 1845 runs in six matches, the highest for any side and fielded quite ordinarily in some matches.
Mosaddek, who is playing a vital role, batting down the order and bowling some useful overs, said it’s not the time to reflect on what they have done so far in the tournament as they should only concentrate on the job in hands.
‘There is no end to the betterment,’ he said. ‘Maybe we could’ve done a bit better. I don’t think this is the time to think about what happened in the tournament early on neither will it help us in any way.
‘We have to look ahead. We have two matches next up and we want to finish those matches well,’ he said.
Mosaddek was expecting a batting pitch in Edgbaston against India and thus prepared himself to play his role as a batting all-rounder, someone so vital to Bangladesh’s prospect.
‘It’s a challenging task for everyone, to bat at number seven,’ said Mosaddek, who has so far scored 98 runs at 24.50 with a 119.51 strike rate and claimed three wickets.
‘Everyone is under pressure; the team score becomes more important than individual score. Everyone tries to score quick runs from there.
‘I’ve been trying this from the [Dhaka] premier league that whenever I bat I would try do score with a high strike-rate. While batting I am always trying to keep my strike rate over 100.
‘In bowling I know my role very well. I know that I may have to bowl 5-6 overs, and there I need to bowl some dot balls. More than taking wickets, my aim is more to bowl dot balls. That’s what I’m trying to do,’ he said.
-With New Age input
