Desk Report:
Pakistan was in a situation where their backs were against the wall after losing to India by 4 wickets in the Super Four. However, Pakistan led by Salman Ali Agha raised hopes last night. Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 5 wickets in Abu Dhabi.
Pakistan now has to win against Bangladesh as well to reach the final. The Bangladesh-Pakistan match will start at 8:30 pm Bangladesh time tomorrow in Dubai. Shaheen Shah Afridi has come to the press conference as Pakistan’s representative before the ‘life-or-death’ match. When the word ‘Tiger’ was mentioned as the nickname of Bangladesh, Shaheen was a little surprised. In response, the Pakistani left-arm pacer said, ‘Who is Tiger? Bangladesh. Oh, sorry.’
Even if they lose to Bangladesh, Pakistan’s hopes of reaching the final will remain on paper. That could happen if Bangladesh can defeat India in Dubai today. It is not known whether Shaheen has the complex calculations of the equation in mind. Without thinking too much, the Pakistan captain said in a press conference today, ‘We have to think about the next match. Our full attention is now on the Bangladesh match. We are thinking about how we will beat Bangladesh.’
Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Netherlands – Bangladesh goes to the United Arab Emirates to play the Asia Cup after winning three consecutive series. Bangladesh, led by Liton Das, has played four matches in the continental championship tournament in the desert and won three of them. Towhid Hridoy (127), Liton (119) – These two Bangladeshi batsmen are competing with Abhishek Sharma and Sahibzada Farhan in the race for the highest run scorer. Meanwhile, Bangladesh won against Sri Lanka on the fifties of Hridoy and Saif. In this match, Mustafiz stopped the Sri Lankan run wheel with his excellent bowling in the death over. Mustafiz has taken 7 wickets so far in the tournament.
According to Shaheen, Pakistan will have to play at their best to defeat Bangladesh. The Pakistani left-arm spinner said, ‘Bangladesh is a good team. They have been playing very well for a few days. When you play against a good team, you have to give the first push. You cannot give them a chance. We have to play well in all three departments – batting, bowling, fielding.’
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan – all three teams have 2 points. But India is on top with a net run rate of +0.689. Pakistan and Bangladesh, who are in second and third, have net run rates of +0.226 and +0.121. If Bangladesh loses to India today, then Liton-Tanjid Hasan Tamimra will play a do-or-die match against Pakistan tomorrow. Meanwhile, Abhishek Sharma is the highest run-scorer in this year’s Asia Cup with 173 runs. Farhan, who is in second, has 156 runs in the tournament.
