Bangladesh head into their World Cup opener against Afghanistan on Saturday with coach Chandika Hathurusingha saying a place in the semi-finals is a “realistic” goal for his side. Hathurusingha was criticised by former captain Tamim Iqbal for a lack of ambition when he said in a recent interview that those who talked about Bangladesh winning the World Cup should “wake up.” But he told reporters at a pre-match press conference on Friday: 

“We all want to win the World Cup, but as you rightly asked me realistically is that if we win four to five games, we give ourselves a chance to get into the semi-finals—that’s our first aim.”