'We must give our 200%'
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim said that they had nothing to lose in the Super 10 Stage of the ICC World Twenty20 and that the pressure would on their opponents. But the home team captain demanded two hundred per cent effort from his boys ahead of today's clash against a wounded West Indies to bounce back from the bad times, which have rooted deep after the defeat against Hong Kong in their last qualifying game. And the little man was well aware of the fact that a win would make the nation's Independence Day celebrations the day after only more colourful.
"We have a record of making turnarounds from bad times. Definitely it will be ideal for us and confidence would have been high had we qualified with an all win record. But we have achieved our first target of progressing to the Super 10s. In T20 cricket anybody can win the game and from that perspective we have a chance to play good cricket and beat the team. In my opinion in this group we have nothing to lose and the pressure will be on our opponents," said a depressed Mushfiqur while talking at the pre-match press conference yesterday in Mirpur.
Mushfiqur however did not agree with the notion that his side was not in good shape ahead of the big challenge. "I don't believe that we are in too bad shape. I have only one message for my team, 'We have nothing to lose and we must give our 200 per cent'. The opponent must feel that we are here to give them a hard time," said a determined Mushfiqur.
There had been a lot of talking about the good memories that the Tigers have against the Caribbean side since their victory in the World Twenty20 in 2007 at Wanderers in South Africa. The Tigers captain also said that they had bitter memories against these opponents too, so he wanted to focus on the present.
"We have some sweet as well as some bad memories against them. But we have to think about the present situation. We are actually thinking more about us. If we can play as per our potential then it is possible to beat anyone, no matter how big they are as a team. True it may not be possible to battle with their power, but we have the skills and we believe it is possible to beat them in our home conditions," exuded a confident Mushfiqur.
He said that as per his observation it would be better for his side to chase. "It is always difficult to chase but here it is easier to bat in second innings."
He also said they will determine the combination after seeing the pitch on the day.
"We have two specialist spinners along with a few all-rounders. And why not taking an extra spinner? If there is some help. They [West Indies] are a little weak against spin, like to play big shots and not rotate strikes," opined Mushfiqur.
He also informed all-rounder Ziaur Rahman and spinner Shohag Gazi have good chance to play today's match.
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