Desk Report:
Bangladesh has won the Asia Cup title not once, but multiple times. That was the idea of Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott. However, the journalists did not take the time to correct his mistake at the press conference. Trott therefore resorted to being more certain. After being certain, he was a little surprised.
The great attitude towards Bangladesh before the match shows how much respect Trott has for the team’s strength. Whatever his thoughts about Liton and Taskin, it goes without saying that Trott’s team will be mentally ahead in the match. At least the statistics of the ongoing Asia Cup say so. Although the tournament started with a win against a weak Hong Kong, Bangladesh was devastated by Sri Lanka in the second match. To keep their hopes of the last four alive, there is no alternative to winning against Afghanistan.
Afghanistan came to the Asia Cup as the favorite. The tournament also started well. They blew away Hong Kong. The Afghans are not thinking of any alternative to winning against Bangladesh with renewed confidence. The tone of confidence and professionalism heard in Trott’s voice at the press conference would not be wrong to call it a hidden threat for Bangladesh.
In response to a question about whether Bangladesh will be under pressure in the fight for survival, Trott said, “Yes, I think so. But if you look at history, you will see that Bangladesh has won this tournament several times. I am talking about the Asia Cup… excuse me. They are finalists. Sorry, I am sure they are champions. I think they won the 50-over Asia Cup.” After correcting his mistake, Trott said, “I thought Bangladesh had won the Asia Cup.”
Despite putting himself ahead, Trott is not taking Bangladesh lightly, “I think there are always match winners in the Bangladesh team. So the match is going to be challenging for us. I am actually quite happy to have the break. This has made us more mentally and physically refreshed, since we have to play in the scorching heat of the UAE. It’s a good opportunity to review where we are at because a win against Bangladesh is going to be very important to go to the next round.’
Afghanistan played a tri-series in the Emirates before the Asia Cup. So Trott has no worries about the preparation, ‘Winning the first match of the tournament was good for us. We got a little break before the first match. But before that we played a lot of matches. I think we had six matches in 12 days before that. So it’s good to have a little break, to stay fresh.’
