Asia Cup 2023: Bangladesh have a powerful workforce for the World Cup, says Shakib Al Hasan after win over India

Shakib Al Hasan stated that Bangladesh have a good squad for the World Cup to be performed in India from October to November 19. On Friday, September 15, the Tigers defeated India by six runs of their final and closing Super Four match of the Asia Cup 2023 on the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

The match was a useless rubber and the win made positive that Bangladesh averted the embarrassment of ending on the backside of the factors desk. The spinners performed a vital function because the trio of Shakib, Mahedi Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz picked up 4 wickets.

“We gave [chances] to the guys who haven’t played much. We thought spinners would play a part, and luckily they did,” Shakib said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Shakib also played a crucial part after he scored 80 runs off 85 balls, helping the Tigers set a challenging target of 266 for the Men in Blue to chase down.

“I wasn’t batting well during this Asia Cup, but today I had time to settle. When I hit my first boundary, it felt good. When the ball got older, spin was difficult to play. When Mahedi came on, it wasn’t easy to bowl. He bowled five overs in a row in the end,” he stated.

Shakib also had words of praise for fast bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib, who made his international debut. Sakib picked up the crucial wickets of Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma to start his spell. Thereafter, he defended 12 runs in the final over to help Bangladesh secure the consolation win.

He Magura-born Shakib, in the meantime, admitted that injuries to players did not help the Tigers throughout the Asia Cup.

“I should give credit to Sakib (Tanzim) also. I think we have got a very good team [for the World Cup]. Lot of injuries, and players coming in and going out didn’t help during this Asia Cup,” Shakib added.

Edited By:

sabyasachi chowdhury

Published On:

Sep 16, 2023