'Jolly' U-19s focused on their own game
Having convincingly beaten the West Indies in the three-match series prior to the ICC Under-19 World Cup, one would have ideally expected the Bangladesh contingent to be relaxed ahead of the semifinal against the boys from the Caribbean tomorrow.
However, judging by the intense training sessions that the junior Tigers went through yesterday, the dressing room does not seem to have any room for relaxation.
Sure enough, the youngsters were in jolly mood during training at the Academy Ground in Mirpur, breaking into spurts of laughter every now and then, but they were equally focused on their training.
A reason behind that could be that the West Indians have improved quite a bit ever since their arrival. It is something about which Bangladesh batsman Nazmul Hossain Shanto, who had scores of 41 and 79 in the two matches he played against them prior to the tournament, is well aware.
“They have been in the country for many days and have adjusted to the conditions. They are playing good cricket. We don't think that we will be able to comfortably beat them; at the same time I am not saying that we can't beat them.
“We are going through our usual routines. Our process will be the same no matter who our opponents are. We are all in a very jolly mood and we are all confident,” said Nazmul, adding that it would be easier to plan for the West Indies match considering that they had faced them quite recently.
Nazmul reckons that subduing West Indies' fast bowlers would be the key to winning the semifinal. And the team's technical advisor Stuart Law echoed Nazmul's sentiment.
“We know that they have some good pace bowlers and they have some hard-hitting batsmen. We are not worried about how they play; we are worried about how we play.
“And we know that they are going to be very tough. Every time they have gone out there on the cricket field they have improved. We will have to play very well to nullify them,” said Law.
“We are just preparing. Cricket is a game where if you worry too much about what others are doing, you lose the game. So we need to forget about everyone else, focus on what we need to do,” he added.
Law believes that his players have aced several crunch moments in the competition and will be raring to go in tomorrow's game.
“I think we have seen the crunch days. We played South Africa, the defending champions and we also played against Nepal in the quarterfinal which was in the balance for a long time. So we have come through those two games.
“On the day it comes down to how each team handles the pressure and how we can put the pressure back on the opposition. You know we did that in the last game against Nepal. Hopefully we can continue,” said Law.
Regardless of what happens tomorrow, Law believes that this group of youngsters deserve a pat on the back.
“I am extremely proud of how the boys have played. It is not about winning the trophy but about doing everything right everyday to make sure we are in the best possible position to win games,” he concluded.
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