Bangladesh – ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 – Shakib Al Hasan has not given up the dream of semi-finals

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shakib al hassan A stroll across the Wankhede Stadium pitches and towards the North Stand meant that he was In fact I am going to attend a press conference for the first time during the World Cup. More importantly, he has recovered enough to play against South Africa on Tuesday.

What happened next was not surprising at all – Shakib was irritable, especially when discussing tamim iqbal And his own fitness.

Shakib was asked whether he had planned this Tamim should bat lower down the order against Afghanistan in July; Tamim took it as an insult, especially after being told this by a BCB official over the phone two weeks before the game.

Shakib said, “How do I link it to Afghanistan? What will be my answer? You want to know who told Tamim? I don’t know who called him. It was not me.”

Is he fit, later Missing the match against India With a quad injury? Is he ready to play even if he is not 100% fit? “What is the fitness parameter? You are here just to ask questions… I don’t know what to tell you. I am pain free and if that continues, I hope to play.”

Shakib is expected to play, but Taskin Ahmed Is out due to shoulder injury.

Shakib said, “Taskin is not available for tomorrow’s game. He will be available after tomorrow’s game.” “His shoulder problem has persisted for the last two matches. The doctor decided that a little rest would make him fit for the last four matches. We don’t want to lose him for the tournament as he is an important player.” Members of this party.

“If there is no problem with running, I can play tomorrow. I was not 100% before the match against India. It was also important that I do not risk the remaining matches of the World Cup. I am in good shape now. I am free from pain.”

Bangladesh is at number 7 in the points table with just one win – against afghanistan – In four games so far. A lot of things did not go right for him, most of all his batting. Nazmul Hussain ShantoAmong other things, it has yet to live up to expectations.

Shakib said, “We have not come here to play just four matches. We have come here to play nine or eleven matches. We know that a player cannot perform well in every game.” “When he starts performing well, and can continue for five matches, it helps the team. I don’t want to comment on it, but we want to perform well as a team. We have There is room for improvement.”

Shakib also defended the team management’s decision to shuffle the batsmen around in the batting order – mehdi hassan meraz For example, getting ahead of more established batsmen like himself, Shanto and Tauheed Hridoy.

“When Miraz scored that century as an opening batsman Against Afghanistan (in the Asia Cup), we thought he should do it again in the World Cup.” Shakib said, ”He scored against England and Sri Lanka in the practice matches (in the World Cup). He again scored runs against Afghanistan. Therefore, you have to give more chances to a batsman who is performing well. That is why he is batting in the upper order.

“I also agree that some of our established batsmen are going lower down the order, but is there any guarantee that they will score high up the order? These are difficult and tricky decisions that we have to take. It has had mixed results I think we still had a chance to score 280-290 runs in all three matches. Only (Mahmudullah) Riyad Brother Batted well till the end (against New Zealand and India).

“I don’t think you can criticize it. Riyadh.” Brother “He’s doing well but if we foster him and he doesn’t perform outside his normal state, we’ll all feel bad about it.”

Shakib: ‘Spinners will not play a big role’ against South Africa

South Africa come into the game making a spectacular comeback against England after their loss to the Netherlands. Shakib does not expect spin to play a big role at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium and is backing his fast bowlers to do the job.

“It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose your last game in the World Cup, it matters who is performing better on the day,” Shakib said of South Africa. “We saw South Africa flying high. We saw them lose to the Netherlands. They did brilliantly against England. We will prepare the way we usually prepare. We will try to play our best cricket and see Where are we?

“Spinners will not play a big role at this venue, which is a relatively small ground. It is a high-scoring ground. Still, we plan to restrict them to low scores. We are taking inspiration from how Netherlands restricted us. Have been watching his weaknesses for the last one-two years.

Before the tournament, Bangladesh’s aspirations of making it to the last four appear to be wavering. A lot depends on this match against South Africa. Another loss, and it could all be over.

“We still have the dream of playing the semi-finals. Other teams are also helping us.” (by defeating higher ranked teams), so if we can help ourselves, it can happen,” Shakib said. “We still have a chance on paper. Let’s finish this campaign first and then you can be heartbroken.”

Fighting till the end, that’s Shakib.

*Updated after Afghanistan’s win over Pakistan on Monday.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84

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