Before the start of the Asia Cup, Bangladesh players repeatedly said their goal was to be crowned champions. That confidence must have faded somewhat by now, as their chances of reaching the Super Four are hanging on too many ifs and buts.
On Saturday in Abu Dhabi, after a six-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in their second Asia Cup match, Bangladesh are now left with two equations—first, they must beat Afghanistan; then, they must hope Afghanistan lose to Sri Lanka. The former is in their own hands, but the latter is not.
The manner of the loss to the Lankans has been particularly jolting. Bangladesh took 14 balls to score their first run, and although they eventually posted 140, Sri Lanka chased it down in just 14.4 overs. Such a defeat has wrecked their net run rate, making it even harder to bounce back in the next match.
Still, wicketkeeper-batter Jaker Ali, speaking on behalf of the team after the Sri Lanka game, voiced optimism: “There is no question of giving up hope. We will play to win. We came into this match with a winning mindset, but it did not happen. We will go into the next one with the same mindset, because there is no other way.”
On the team’s prospects in the tournament, he added: “We didn’t come here just to play matches, we came here to become champions. One loss cannot make us give up hope. We cannot abandon our belief after just one defeat.”
It was his 86-run stand off 61 balls with Shamim, after the team had slumped to 11 for 3, that provided some stability. This is Bangladesh’s highest partnership for the sixth wicket or lower.
Jaker admitted the side fell behind right from the start. Litton echoed the same in the post-match presentation: “I think we lost the game in the powerplay. The wicket was really good for batting. If you score only 140 on such a wicket, you have to bowl and field really well. We couldn’t do that. Now the game against Afghanistan is a do-or-die battle.”
