Skipper Shakib Al Hasan admits team is tense heading into today's do-or-die clash against England
Skipper Shakib Al Hasan admits team is tense heading into today's do-or-die clash against England
The Bangladesh team is tense ahead of today's make or break clash against England, skipper Shakib Al Hasan said yesterday.
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| Left: Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan inspects the pitch at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday. pic/afp |
The Tigers have only a solitary win to show from three games and defeat at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury today will almost certainly halt their progress into the World Cup quarter-finals from a group that includes India, South Africa and the West Indies.
"The boys will be a bit tense but we believe if we can play well we can beat any team and we are confident enough to do the right thing," said Hasan.
"Some day if you play well, they will cheer for you and some day if you don't play well they will abuse you. So we are not thinking about our crowd," he added when asked about anticipation of crowd trouble since the stoning of the West Indies team bus after their recent defeat.u00a0
Batsman Junaid Siddique said the team was looking forward to a fresh start. "We don't want to remember the past and want to look forward. There are no negative feelings at the moment.," he said.
Meanwhile, England have problems too reeling under the twin blows of losing star batsman Kevin Pietersen and fast bowler Stuart Broad for the rest of the tournament due to injuries. The duo have been replaced by fluent left-hand batsman Eoin Morgan and giant fast bowler Chris Tremlett. England captain Andrew Strauss remained tight-lipped over his new opening partner. "I am clear in my mind who will open, but will not say before the game has started," he said.
