Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan gestures to teammates during the T20 World Cup cricket match between South Africa and Bangladesh in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)Shakib Al Hasan has no qualms in admitting that Bangladesh are not title contenders in the T20 World Cup and a win against India will be considered an upset.
Both Bangladesh and India are on four points from three games.
“We haven’t come here to win the World Cup, but India have. If we win tomorrow, it will be an upset victory. India are favourites tomorrow,” Shakib told reporters on the eve of the game.
The cold conditions in Adelaide does create a problem but the key will be adaptability.
Shakib Al Hasan's press conference confessions 👀
The skipper's honesty was refreshing ahead of Bangladesh's #T20WorldCup meeting with India 👇https://t.co/IKTg2lCwQj
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“It is a little difficult. Hobart was very cold and here it’s cold. It is difficult to adjust to this cold but most players have at some point played here. You can’t change the weather but we have to manage it,” he said.
While Shakib had no hesitation in calling Suryakumar Yadav India’s No. 1 batter in T20Is over the past year but he believed Bangladesh will need to concentrate on each and every Indian batter.
“If you aren’t good, you won’t be playing World Cup for India. It is a phenomenal batting order,” he said.
Shakib didn’t spell out his plans for the match.
“We will have our plans in place, but not necessarily, those solutions will work. All eleven players are capable and we have to do with resources that we have,” said the skipper, whose team till date has lost 10 T20Is to the neighbouring nation.