Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh all-rounder, admitted that his side were ‘lucky’ to get away with a solitary point in the group stage match against Australia at the Oval on Monday (June 5) to keep their semifinal hopes alive in the ongoing Champions Trophy. After having bowled out Bangladesh for 182, Australia were cruising at 83 for 1 in 16 overs before rain stopped play.
Having lost their opening match against England, a defeat against Australia would’ve ended their campaign. However, rain came to their rescue at the right time and kept them in the hunt to qualify for the next round.
“We are lucky, but this is something that no one can control,” Shakib said. “We need luck going forward to the next game. We have a very good chance (to qualify for the semifinals), but we need to win that game and need the other results going our way. The best thing we can do is go to Cardiff and win that game.”
Bangladesh will need to beat New Zealand and hope for other results to go their way in order to qualify for the semifinals. A rain-marred encounter against Australia has helped Bangladesh’s qualification chances earlier as well – in the 2015 World Cup. An abandoned match against the eventual champions left them with having to beat England in their final group stage encounter to make it to the quarterfinals. They did that and made their maiden appearance in the world cup knockouts. History beckons again for the Asian side. This time the challenge is against the Kane Williamson-led side, a team they beat in the recently concluded tri-series in Ireland. However, the veteran all-rounder believes that New Zealand would be a much tougher side to beat this time around.
“That (win) will on the back of our mind, but we know that they are a much stronger side now,” he added. “They were missing a few important players. And this is an ICC tournament. They will try their best to win against us, they will play their best cricket.
“I’m hopeful they will be up for the challenge, but we have nothing to lose. This is the one game we can give our best shot.”
Bangladesh made one change to their side in the second match, including Mehedi Hasan – an offspinner who can bat – in place of Mosaddek Hussain – a batting allrounder, a combination which Shakib believes works well for the side. The change has allowed them to play five frontline bowlers, apart from having seven frontline batsmen to be followed by handy willow-wielders in Mehedi and Mashrafe Mortaza.
“In the first game, we were not sure of what combination to go with,” he explained. “But personally, I think, this is a better combination with five frontline bowlers and seven very good batsmen. This is a very good combination to win games.
“In the first game, our selection was very defensive. In the practice game against India, we didn’t have a good outing, which then reflected in our selection for the opening game.”
The former skipper also heaped praise on experienced opener Tamim Iqbal, who has had a couple of good outings in the tournament so far. After stroking a fine century against England, he struck a crucial 95 against Australia.
“Both the innings he played was terrific. He brought in a lot of character and gave confidence to the (players) in the dressing room on how you should apply and play in these sort of wickets,” Shakib concluded.
 to keep their semifinal hopes alive in the ongoing Champions Trophy. After having bowled out Bangladesh for 182, Australia were cruising at 83 for 1 in 16 overs before rain stopped play.){kind=link}