BANGLADESH beat England at the 2011 World Cup, so why should the subcontinental nation fear Afghanistan in Wednesday’s World Cup Pool A clash in Canberra?
The fact is that 11th-ranked Afghanistan has a winning record against Bangladesh. One-nil.
Mohammad Mahmudullah, who hit the winning runs for Bangladesh against England in 2011 in Chittagong, says his team has nothing but respect for Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has played 45 ODIs compared to Bangladesh’s 294.
Bangladesh has participated in the past four World Cups, while war-torn Afghanistan will make its World Cup debut at Manuka Oval in front of about 10,000 people.
“We’re feeling very confident about the day after tomorrow’s game and we’re looking forward to winning it,” Mahmudullah said.
Mahmudullah described the victory over England as a special time in his career.
“I’m not going to say we’re going to make upsets,” he said of the 2015 tournament.
“If we can to the best of our ability we can beat anyone. We’re hoping to win the first game and put it out of the way so we can get a good start on this World Cup tour.”
The 29-year-old all-rounder denied there was extra pressure on Bangladesh which is favoured to beat Afghanistan.
“We respect their team as well. They’re a very good side,” he said.
“We are quite capable of beating them.
“They have beaten us in the Asia Cup last year. It will be a very good contest between us.”
Source: Foxsports
