Bangladesh One Of The Biggest Contenders To Get The World Cup: Mushfiqur Rahim

The last time Mushfiqur Rahim was in England with the Bangladesh team, the Tigers had made it to the semifinal of the Champions Trophy ahead of the likes of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other traditional superpowers. Mushfiqur Rahim is now eyeing even a better show in the upcoming ICC World Cup 2019. The wicketkeeper-batsman believes that his nation has the ability to make it to the knockout stage of the tournament as well as win the coveted title.

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Bangladesh’s track record in World Cup is not very promising. After making their World Cup debut in 1999, Bangladesh have won just 11 of the 33 games while losing 20. Their best result came in the previous edition when they made it to the quarterfinal. With the way Bangladesh have performed in ODIs in recent years, there is little doubt that they have the capability of doing well at the World Cup and Mushfiqur is hopeful of a good show.

“The one thing we believe that we are going to win not just for participating in the tournament. This is our belief, we hope you all do that too,” Mushfiqur Rahim said.

“I strongly believe that we have huge potential to make it to the knockout stages and anything can happen in the knockout stage. I don’t expect an easy game to win in the World Cup. In the World Cup, I will say that every team is strong, but what I believe is that Bangladesh are also one of the biggest contenders to get the World Cup. In the last few years, we suffered defeats in many finals. I have a belief that the almighty might have saved it to give us something big in this World Cup,” he added.

Bangladesh are currently seventh in the ODI rankings. Last year, they beat West Indies twice including one in the Caribbeans but have lost their only ODI series this year which was against New Zealand. With the likes of experienced campaigners – Mashrafee bin Mortaza, Shakib al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim – in the team, Bangladesh would be eyeing a good show.

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The World Cup will get underway on May 30. This year’s format will see all the ten participating teams taking on each other once before the top four make it to the playoffs.