If there’s any pressure, it’s on India: Mortaza

It’s 2015 all over again. Their ongoing Champions Trophy campaign has been quite similar for Bangladesh to what it was during the last World Cup. A rain-marred match against Australia and a surprise win in the group stage led to their qualification to the next round on both occasions. And much like the quarter-finals in Australia, they will now face India in the semis in England.

But it has been a period in which Bangladesh cricket has witnessed epoch-making rise. They announced the change in tide with back-to-back series wins against Pakistan, India and South Africa that year at home. It was followed by Test wins against England and Sri Lanka, apart from a few close contests that didn’t go in their favour. Opener Tamim Iqbal had mentioned that the team’s improved performances has led to the other teams taking them seriously.

“It’s different who is respecting you and not, but as a team we are trying to improve our cricket,” skipper Mashrafe Mortaza said on Wednesday (June 14). “As a team in the last two-three years we have changed a lot of things, especially in the dressing rooms and in the ground. We are trying our best.”

The crux of the squad has been the same, with a few minor changes. But barring their fielding, they possess quite an all-round quality side. Even as players like Mahmuddulah went through a lean patch, the selectors backed them, and when the time came, the allrounder repaid their faith. All of this is what Mortaza believes has helped Bangladesh cricket prosper in the last few years.

India had brushed aside Bangladesh in 2015’s World Cup contest to seal themselves an easy route to the semis, but they would be aware of what challenge Bangladesh - an improved, confident and optimistic outfit - pose in 2017. Having succumbed to a series defeat in 2015, India just about managed to escape with a win in last year’s World T20, where Bangladesh failed to score two runs off the last three balls.

Virat Kohli, India skipper, believes Bangladesh come with an element of danger, and it is a tag that Mortaza is only too happy to carry. “I know that in our day we can do anything,” he warned. “But we are the team that is trying to improve ourselves a lot, (from) what we have been.

“We have tried to play at our best in every match. We don’t know what is going to be the result, but once you can play at your best, you know that you are going to play at your best and things can change. So even if we look at the last match, when Ross [Taylor] and [Kane] Williamson batted really well, we came back strongly. Never give up on the ground.”

It is Bangladesh’s first appearance in the Champions Trophy since 2004. They are one win away from reaching the final, but their skipper thinks the pressure will be more on India who are one the tournament favourites. India have played good cricket in this tournament, but a clinical display from Sri Lanka in the group stage proved that they can be upstaged. It is a fact that Bangladesh wouldn’t want to overlook.

“If it’s pressure, I think India has got more pressure than us because of their huge population, and people love cricket in India a lot. It’s the same even in Bangladesh. Both teams have a lot of expectations. But at the end of the day, it’s a cricket match, so whoever plays well, will win. Both teams will try their best. If you take it as a semifinal, the pressure will be very hard, but if you think it’s just another match, the pressure will come a lot easier,” he concluded.

Source: Cricbuzz