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Can Tigers bring back Adelaide’s sweet memory?

Bangladesh returned to a venue of Australia-Adelaide Oval-which gave them so much so that it got a permanent place in the country’s cricket folklore.

It’s the venue where Bangladesh beat England in a tensed clash to move to the quarterfinal of the 2015 World Cup. Indeed, a victory against England was mandatory to move to the knock out stage of any World Cup for the first time.

Standing on the brink of the history, the Tigers did the unbelievable thing which eventually started a cricket renaissance of Bangladesh. After that victory, Bangladesh indeed established them as one of the major forces in ODI cricket.

When they will play against India a T20 match here after seven years, they are standing on same position. A victory could help them move to the semifinal for the first time in T20 World Cup.

The T20 format is obviously not Bangladesh’s favourite format but they are trying to be a force to reckon with and a victory against a neighbouring country which could play an important role in kick-starting a cricket
renaissance in this format like the ODI format in 2015.

Captain Shakib Al Hasan is aware of the history and admitted that they would seek motivation from the past victory in this venue. When Shakib talked about motivation it mattered a lot, because as a practical person he always refuses to hide his emotions.

“Only two of us (myself and Taskin) left from that team. It’s a good memory.Hopefully that memory will help us here,” Shakib said.

“Bangladesh will go into the match against India as underdogs,” he said, adding that a win will be called as an upset. But he is less bothered about it and said they will try to make an upset in a bid to stay alive in the
race.

“Our next two matches are against two teams-India and Pakistan. Win against them will be called an upset but no matter what it is. We’ll try to make an upset,” he said.

“If it’s our day, why can’t we win? We saw teams like Ireland beat England, Zimbabwe beat Pakistan. So why on earth we can’t beat India? If such thing happens we’ll be happy.”

South Africa is now the group leader from Group 2 with five points from three matches. Both Bangladesh and India have four points but India is in second position thanks to the better run rate. Zimbabwe have three points and Pakistan have two points so far. Netherlands who languished as the bottom table is yet to open their account.

Bangladesh played off-spin all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz against South Africa but he questioned that decision after completely failing with the bat and ball. On the other hand, the same team played in both the matches that
saw the Tigers win against the Netherlands and Zimbabwe. So, Shakib is also thinking about whether to break the winning combination.

Ahead of the crucial game, Shakib has much to thinking about the combination.

“Actually, many things should be kept in mind for team selection. As I have said before, whichever team we select, we are optimistic that the team will play well. One thing is that the team which played the last match won two matches. (Against South Africa) We put together a combination that didn’t work. Whether we will do such a combination again is a matter of concern,” Shakib informed.

Shakib’s expectation is that whichever team is finally selected, the cricketers will not lack effort.

“There are many ifs and buts, what will not happen, there are many questions. These questions must be answered. Then you have to think and make a decision. It is not necessary that the thought will be done or the decision taken will be right, but it will be supported by the whole team and everyone will try to give their hundred percent on the field,” he concluded.

Source: BSS

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