Dhaka, August 26: Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has stated that his team will consider the men’s ODI World Cup when they finish participating in the Asian Cup which will be held from August 30 to September 17. Bangladesh started their Asian Cup campaign against Sri Lanka in Pallekele, on 31 August.
“Now the whole plan is based on the Asian Cup and the squad is prepared accordingly. When we finish the Asian Cup, the World Cup will come and we will think about it at that time. Now we are only thinking about the Asian Cup and more precisely we are only thinking about the Afghanistan-Sri Lanka match.”
Coach Chandika Haturusingha echoed the same view. “Obviously, we aim to qualify for the second round first. We’re playing in Sri Lanka against Sri Lanka. They’re a very good team at home. And then, we’ll play Afghanistan in Pakistan and recently, they played here and they are.” We won the series. So, there are big challenges but we are ready for them.
Shakib, who was appointed to the post after Tamim Iqbal resigned due to a long-term back injury, said Bangladesh was looking at the Asian Cup and the World Cup as two different tournaments, adding that results in the former would not guarantee a good outcome. Or a bad appearance at the Masterpiece event.
He added, “You cannot think of the World Cup with the Asian Cup because they are two different tournaments. Yes, if we can perform well and develop as a good team in the Asian Cup, in that case, we have a good chance to do well in the Asian Cup.” The World Cup and from this point of view the Asian Cup is important.”
He added, “But it is not as if our bad performance in the Asian Cup means that there is no chance for us in the World Cup, just as if we perform well it means that our chances in the World Cup will increase dramatically.”
Source: IANS
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