Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan said on Wednesday that he believed that the team was ready for a good display in this edition of the ICC World Cup as they have prepared well for the tournament despite a below-par performance in the recent past.
The Tigers are coming into the tournament after losing both their last two ODI bilateral series against Afghanistan and New Zealand respectively on home soil while they also failed to reach the final of the recently concluded Asia Cup.
However, Bangladesh, who have never played in the last four of the global event, will start their campaign against Afghanistan in Dharamshala on October 7.
‘Now it’s time for us to put on a good show in this World Cup,’ said Shakib on Wednesday in the captains gathering in Ahmedabad.
He added that they were all set to head into the tournament with a firm belief to surpass their all-past success in the showcase tournament, which is three wins in the last three outings.
‘I think our team is ready, and the country is expecting a little more than what we did previously,’ the Bangladesh skipper said.
Bangladesh had a pretty good practice ahead of the marquee event as they dashed Sri Lanka by 7 wickets but suffered a four-wicket defeat against England in the warm-up ties in Guwahati.
‘I think we prepared well. If we talk about the last four years since the 2019 World Cup, we are probably the third or fourth team in the qualifiers point system. So, we have done really well as a group,’ he said.
According to the all-rounder, captaincy was not extra pressure on him; rather, it was inspiration to perform better.
‘No, not really. I think it always inspired me to do better. Personally, I never looked at any stats. It’s as long as I’m contributing for the team – the team comes first. That has been the motto throughout my career and that’s how I want to go about it,’ he said.
