Jeered by fans and criticised by former players for their dismal World Cup campaign so far, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said his team is a tense lot ahead of Friday’s group match against England.
With just one win from three matches, the co-hosts risk being knocked out of the event in the group stage itself if they fail to get the better of England in tomorrow’s Group B match.
Shakib said the team is tense but confident as well of putting it across the injury-hit English side.
“The boys are tense, but they are also confident that they can put up a good show,” said Shakib.
“We have prepared well for the game. We have worked hard in the last few days. I have tried to take the pressure on myself, so it eases the pressure on them.
“I think we have a very good chance in this match. We have to play good, positive hard cricket. If we play our best cricket, we can beat any side in the world,” he added.
Bangladesh’s poor show has angered local fans who even stoned Shakib’s home after the team slumped to its lowest ever one-day total against the West Indies and were humiliated by nine wickets.
Shakib said he can’t really explain what went wrong in the match.
“I can’t really put a finger on what happened, except that we batted poorly. Hopefully, such a performance happens only once in a lifetime. We have learnt our lessons,” Shakib said.
About the criticism from fans and media, Shakib said, “The good thing is that we try not to read newspapers, or worry what is written in them.
“How do I describe the crowd? When we play well, they cheer us. When we do badly, they abuse us. It will be better not to think of the crowd,” he added.
Shakib said he is hopeful that the absence of star batsman Kevin Pietersen and pacer Stuart Broad will upset the English team’s balance and help Bangladesh.
“England will obviously miss Pietersen and Broad. But (Eoin) Morgan is a very good player who has done very well against us in the past,” he said.
“But we have to guard against all the players and do our home work well,” he added.
