ICC World Cup 2023 – Afghanistan vs Ban – Chandika Hathurusinghe defuses drama to keep Bangladesh focus on semi-finals

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It was no different for the Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe Ahead of the team’s first World Cup match against Afghanistan in Dharamshala. However, Hathurusinghe cleverly sidestepped most of these questions and said that it was his job to keep the pressure on his team.

Asked whether Bangladesh would be better off without Tamim facing Fazalhaq Faruqui, Hathurusinghe described it as a “strange question”. Hathurusinghe just smiled when asked about Shakib’s sharp attack on Tamim.

Hathurusinghe himself caused a stir last month when he said people should “wake up” if they were dreaming of Bangladesh winning the World Cup. Speaking to a Dhaka based newspaper prothom aloeHathurusinghe had said, “For whatever reason, our captain (Shakib) was appointed five weeks ago. I came six months ago. It is not ideal (so close to the World Cup). But that does not mean That Bangladesh cannot do this.” Do anything good in the World Cup…

“Bangladesh’s biggest achievement is three wins in one campaign. So if anyone is dreaming that we will win the World Cup, I would tell them to ‘wake up from their sleep’. It is possible to do something better than before. We are keeping Our target is bigger – to reach the semi-finals.”

Later, when these comments were pointed out to Tamim new zealand seriesHe marveled, “I definitely think we should dream. If you don’t dream you won’t be able to achieve it. Our under-19 team never got beyond the quarter-finals, but Because they dreamed big, they became champions.” In the 2020 World Cup). This is our seventh World Cup, so when will we dream?”

The question arose again in Dharamshala, and Hathurusinghe responded: “My job is to take the pressure off the players. People can dream, can create goals. They can have goals. We want to make a good World Cup, make matches. Trying to win.” Our target is to reach the semi-finals. It could be a dream.

“We all want to win the World Cup. Since you asked me our real target is, if we can win four or five matches then we can reach the semi-finals. That is our first target. We have a good enough team to do that ” .We have to reach the semi-final stage.”

On the actual cricket front, the biggest question is who will replace Tamim at the top of the order? will he be young tanzeed hassan or will happen mehdi hassan meraz He remains his preferred opening option, especially as the coach and captain believe Mehdi is effective against offspinner Mujeeb Ur Rehman, who is likely to take the new ball with Farooqui? The surface also needs to be taken into consideration, with buzz being that the Dharamsala pitch might not help the spin trio of Mujeeb, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, who have often dominated Bangladesh across all formats.

“We have two options (to replace Tamim). We will be in a better position to take that decision tomorrow morning,” the coach said. “We will see whether we bat first or later, and then take a decision. The wicket looks really good for ODI cricket. It has a good layer of grass. I think it will be a really good playing wicket. We are looking for high “We are expecting scoring on this ground. We will decide the combinations tomorrow morning.”

Often, a big win fills many cracks for Bangladesh. This first match of the World Cup, against Afghanistan, is a game Bangladesh desperately needs to win, and for more than just two points.

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