Soccer WC on their mind

Bangladesh wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim stretches ahead of the day-night Twenty20 international match against South Africa yesterday. PHOTO: TIGERCRICKET.COM

The first impression someone got upon immediate arrival here is nothing but the fact that South Africa are going to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In every nook and corner it is evident that they are preparing for the mega event and all the people who are ardent followers of sports love to talk with pride about the greatest show on the earth.
“Look there are construction works going on everywhere only because of the World Cup. It's a really big event coming for us,” said Fikile, a taxi driver. One slogan which is written on a street wall, could be a great example how people of this country are looking forward to the event: 'You can make noise for the 2010 FIFA World Cup right now'.
But there were however no short of excitement also with the Twenty20 International cricket match between Bangladesh and South Africa at the Liberty Life Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Especially the Bangladeshi community in South Africa was so eager with the series that they were crying: “Ash don't make us sad,” said a banner carried by some Tigers supporters.
“You know there are a number of Bangladeshis who came today (Wednesday) to support the team from different parts of the country. We are hopeful because Bangladesh won a Twenty20 match here against West Indies and they recently played good cricket against New Zealand,” said Rony.
“We hope our players come up with fire in the breezy day and it's also a challenge for them because their rivals are doing well in ICL,” the witty Rony added with a laugh.
Another fan Ashraf was a little bit frustrated that he could not watch Bangladesh's first one-day match against New Zealand which Mohammad Ashraful's men won by seven wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
“Oh, we could not watch the match on the television,” he said.
Bangladesh captain Ashraful also noticed that there is huge interest with the World Cup football but said that they want to make an impression in their second trip to the country during the monthlong tour.
“Honestly speaking nobody cares about us. People are interested to talk about the football World Cup. We can catch the people's attention if we play competitive cricket in the series,” said the Tigers skipper.
“Our main focus is on the one-day and Test series but anything positive in the Twenty20 match will help us get the confidence before the three-match one-day series,” he said.
For Bangladesh skipper the same headache remained as his strike bowler Mashrafe Bin Mortaza again complaining of back pain.
TEAMS
Bangladesh (from): Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Zunaed Siddiqui, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Rokibul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Nayeem Islam, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Shahadat Hossain.
South Africa: Johan Botha (captain), Loots Bosman, AB de Villiers (wicketkeeper), Jean-Paul Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Rory Kleinveldt, Johann Louw, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Justin Ontong, Dale Steyn.