Southampton: Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan believes Bangladesh have the wherewithal to create an upset against India but they will need to produce their absolute best to outwit the title favourites and keep their World Cup semifinal hopes alive.
Shakib produced a brilliant allround display, scoring a fifty and returning with a five-wicket haul as Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by 62 runs here on Monday to grab the fifth spot in the points table. Bangladesh will need to beat India (July 2) and Pakistan (July 5) in their final two group matches to salvage any hopes of a knockout stage. “India are the top side who are looking at the title, it is not going to be easy but we believe we can beat India,” Shakib said. “Experience will help, we have to play our best cricket to be able to beat India. They have got world-class players who can take the match in their own hands. We have to be at our best but I believe we are a capable enough team.” Bangladesh’s spin bowling coach Sunil Joshi also exuded confidence about the spinners in their ranks and hoped they will produce the goods against India when they meet next week. “We all know they play spin well. But so do we, we play spin very well and played it well against Afghanistan,” said Joshi, who has played 15 Test and 69 ODIs for India.
“We have shown in the white ball formats here and before this how we are a good side, we won in Ireland, we have beaten West Indies home and away and come close to beating India three times in the past three years.” He added. (Agensies)
