Tigers Awaiting for Their Fortune

Bangladesh’s dream of reaching the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 is close to being over but pacer Taskin Ahmed still believes that they can make it to the final four if they are able to secure victories in their remaining ties that start with the battle against Netherlands at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata today. The match will begin at 2:30pm with T Sports and GTV televising the game live.

‘It’s not finished yet. There are still four more games to go. If we can win those four, anything can happen because there are some run rate issues and also a lot of teams like Sri Lanka and Afghanistan beat England,’ said Taskin on Friday in the pre-match press conference.

Despite making an impressive start to the tournament with a six-wicket win over Afghanistan, Shakib Al Hasan and his troops are yet to secure another victory in their last four encounters, which has led to their chances of reaching the final four being minimal.

Although it is possible mathematically, their tournament form puts a question mark over that. Still, they are holding on to their dream with the skin of their teeth, as one more wrong move would turn their dream into dust.

‘So, if we can win four, there will be a different story. But at the moment, we are planning to go match by match. Yes, we didn’t play as well as we expected from both units, batting and bowling, but we still have four games to go. So, we are looking forward to doing well as well,’ the pacer said.

Their performance in their four defeats on the trot has left the Tigers in such a state that even a tie against Netherlands, whom they expected to beat ahead of the tournament, is being seen with a cautious eye. Adding to that is the fact that a defeat against the Dutch would mean even harsher criticism as they are well ahead in terms of rankings.

The statistics between the sides do not say much in favour of Bangladesh as they have one win in two encounters.

‘It is always a pressure when you suffer a defeat, and it further soars when your opponent is Netherlands, and there is a must-win expectation from all. In fact, we want to win all the matches. However, you can’t take them lightly as they beat South Africa,’ Taskin said.

The Bangladesh pace unit had been enjoying a purple patch for the last two years but they looked extremely dull in this edition of the showpiece event as they have claimed only 13 wickets in five games.

Their aggression has gone missing in the global event, and the pressure further mounted after Taskin was sidelined in the previous two games due to his shoulder pain.

However, the relief for Bangladesh is that Taskin is back and also due to come up with a good performance to turn the tables for the Tigers.