‘An opportunity to learn from world-class players’

Bangladesh wrapped up their preparation for the Asian Champions Trophy with a 3-1 defeat against Pakistan at the Maulana Bhashani Hockey Stadium yesterday.

Rakibul Hasan scored the opening goal for Bangladesh before Abu Bakar, Rana Wahid and Mubashir Ali scored for the joint-defending champions. The match was shorter than official matches and was played in more of a practice mood than anything else.

Bangladesh had conceded a 4-1 defeat against Japan in their first practice match two days ago. The host nation will begin their campaign on December 15 against three-time champions India, a day after the five-team tournament gets underway.

Gobinathan Krishnamurthy, the Malaysian coach of the national team, was realistic about the chances of Bangladesh team, bottom of ranking among the five teams.

"The team was out of action for 14 months and I just got to work with them for only 10 days. Furthermore, the other teams here are way ahead of us. So it will be very difficult for us," the coach said ahead of the final practice match.

"We have some new players in the squad. It will be a learning experience for them for future tournaments. What I can say is that they will give their best in the tournament," said the Malaysian.

Ashraful Islam, the team's captain, saw this tournament as an opportunity to learn and improve. "We have got nothing to lose, but a lot to learn from this tournament. There will be world class players playing, so we will try to learn from them and do our best to impress," said Ashraful.