Brendon McCullum, who downplayed Bangladesh’s chances at the World Cup four years ago in England, fully reversed course this time and now sees the Tigers as a contender for the championship of the biggest cricket spectacular in India later this year.
He referred to the upcoming World Cup as being open to anyone and anticipated a bright potential for Bangladesh, partly because of the circumstance.
He predicted the results of every World Cup team four years ago in an Instagram post that was afterwards shared on Facebook and Twitter as well.
McCullum made a prediction at the time that Bangladesh would only triumph over Sri Lanka and lose eight games overall in the competition.
His reputation among Bangladeshi fans quickly changed as the prediction generated a huge social media outcry.
Later, the Tigers won three games, including one against South Africa, a hot favorite. They also defeated Afghanistan and the West Indies.
If Mushfiqur Rahim hadn’t made the error behind the wicket, the Tigers might have defeated McCullum’s native New Zealand as well. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson survived as a result of his error, and he eventually led the team to a tight victory.
But this time, McCullum refrained from using his social media platform to make any predictions. But he disclosed the teams that would have a chance to win the trophy in a media interview with an Indian outlet.
He singled out Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, England, and New Zealand while referring to the country of origin, India, as the hot favorite. They also brought Bangladesh along because they thought the Tigers would have an advantage given the conditions in India, which were already familiar to them.
“Defending champions England have a good chance,” said McCullum who is also the head coach of England.
“Sometimes you go to a World Cup and you can have reasonable predictions about who you think will make it. On this occasion, not really sure..I think India will be there. England have a good chance. Then you’ve got the likes of Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand…they always find a way in the World Cups.”
“Bangladesh too in these conditions…you just never know. So I think it’s really an open World Cup. Whoever starts well, will probably give themselves the best chance to be there at the end.”
