After completing their Asia Cup assignment, the Bangladesh national cricket team arrived back in their home country today.
Bangladesh won twice during the competition, once against Afghanistan in the group stage and once against India in their last Super Four encounter.
Before their triumph against India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets and 21 runs, respectively, excluding them from contention for the championship match.
They had great expectations going into the event, but they were disappointed when they lost to an injury-weakened Sri Lanka by five wickets.
However, they advanced to the Super Four thanks to an 89-run victory over Afghanistan.
Their performance in the first two Super Four games was below average, but against India, they demonstrated their potential. The match, which came down to the wire, saw six changes from Bangladesh compared to five from India.
Bangladesh maintained composure and demonstrated mental toughness to ultimately win by just six runs.
A win against India would provide them a psychological lift leading up to the World Cup, according to captain Shakib Al Hasan, who played a key role in the triumph with an outstanding all-around effort that included scoring 80 runs and capturing one wicket for 43 runs in 10 overs.
The victory indeed made him confident that the Tigers will be a dangerous team in the World Cup.
“A lot of players injured and some going in and out, that didn’t help us (during Asia Cup). I think we will be a dangerous side in the World Cup (if we can put up performance like this),” Shakib said during the post-match presentation after beating India in the thriller.
Later head coach Chandika Hathurusingha echoed the captain’s sentiment, saying Bangladesh got the mental boost for the World Cup.
“The victory, no doubt, will boost us mentally ahead of the World Cup. Today was the day when we came up with the performance that we wanted to show throughout the tournament. But it didn’t happen in the last two matches.”
As they prepare for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand at home, Bangladesh seldom gets any downtime. The games are slated to take place at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on September 21, 23, and 26.
The BCB has not yet revealed the lineup for the series, but Shakib previously made a suggestion that some of the players, who had already secured their spots on the World Cup roster, might be rested in light of the potential for injuries. Shakib himself might miss one or two games.
