Instead of predicting before I think it is important to play well on the field – Mehidy Hasan on Ban Vs Afg clash
Shakib Al Hasan-drove side will plan to improve their recent record in the shortest format, having dominated only two matches out of 13 since the World Cup last year while Dasun Shanaka is hoping that the Bangladesh bowling attack won’t represent similar danger as his side had looked from the Afghans.
Other than looking at a significantly better show with the bat, Sri Lanka has turned to play mind games ahead of their vital tie against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in Sharjah on Tuesday.
Sri Lankan players were floored by Afghanistan pacers in the first game and will be hoping to start thinking responsibly after a heavy loss. Bangladesh, on the other hand, will play their competition opener.
The Shakib al Hasan-drove side will plan to improve their recent record in the shortest format, having dominated only two matches out of 13 since the World Cup last year.
Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka is hoping that the Bangladesh bowling attack won’t represent similar danger as his side had looked from the Afghans.
“Afghanistan has a world-class bowling attack. We know Fizz (Mustafizur Rahman) is a good bowler. Shakib is a world-class bowler. But apart from them, there is no world-class bowler on the side. So if we compare with Afghanistan, Bangladesh is an easier opponent,”
Shanaka said after the heavy defeat.
Afghanistan pacers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq had broken the backbone of Sri Lanka batting. Shanka hopes his batters to be prepared for the Bangladesh challenge.
“We have to ask our batters whether they were prepared. We know that Farooqi swings the ball both ways. Naveen-ul-Haq also swings it most of the time. It’s not like in our conditions; these bowlers are a bit skiddier. We have to ask that question of whether we were ready for them,”
said Shanaka.
Speaking ahead of the game, Bangladesh all-rounder Mehedy Hasan said his team would like to respond to Shanaka’s claim on the field.
“I don’t want to comment that this team is good and this team is bad. I think good and bad are proven in the field. A good team can lose if they play badly on that specific day and similarly a bad team can win if they play a good game of cricket.
”We will meet on the field and at that end of the day the good team will win the match and what I feel is that we have to prove it on the field because if we play well certainly everyone will know who is a good team and who is a bad team so instead of predicting before I think it is important to play well on the field,”
said Hasan.