Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan believes the team is well prepared to take on any opponents in the upcoming T20 World Cup in UAE. Shakib and Mustafizur Rahman will also play in the IPL 2021 which will be held in the same place and that will give them an idea about the conditions at hand.
The Tigers are coming into the ICC event on the back of two first-time wins over Australia and New Zealand at home. They wiped the Aussies 4-1 and defeated the Kiwis 3-2 in what has been a fantastic year for them so far. This has built a ‘winning mentality’ that will aid them in the upcoming multi-nation tournament.
“I am hopeful that the IPL will help everyone,” Shakib said. “We will be spending time in those conditions, play matches too. Mustafiz and I can share the experience with the rest of the team. We will understand the other players’ mindset, what they are thinking about the World Cup, and then report it back to our players.”
“Our team will be in Oman at least 15-16 days before the World Cup, which is enough time for acclimatising with conditions and wickets. I don’t think pitches and conditions here will have any impact over there. We have built a winning mentality, which will help us be confident in the World Cup,” Shakib said.
“We want to go into the World Cup with confidence” – Shakib al Hasan
The series against Australia and New Zealand came under the scanner due to the pitches on show during the matches. The batsmen found it really tough to stitch any sort of innings together and it never really helped the Bangladeshis to prepare for the World Cup. Responding to the criticism, Shakib al Hasan said there’s nothing better than winning despite what the outside noise says.
“Those who played the last nine-ten matches, are all out of form. That’s how the wicket was. Nobody did well. I hope the batters don’t count this performance. Careers will end if any batter plays 10-15 matches on these wickets. Let’s not take this into account. Everyone will try hard to win games for the country.”
“I think we are well prepared, by winning these last three (T20I) series. There’s been a lot of criticism about pitches and low scores, but there’s nothing better than winning. Such a winning streak takes confidence to a different level. You wouldn’t have it if you played well but lost. We want to go to the World Cup with confidence,” he concluded.
Shakib had a decent outing in the previous World Cup held in India back in 2016. He scored 129 runs in 6 innings at an average of 32.25. He will hope to do even better when Bangladesh begin their campaign against Scotland on October 17 in Oman.
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