Photo: Collected
Bangladesh cricket team has left for the Asian Games after completing proper preparations. The Tigers will start this year’s Asian Games with a quarter-final match against Malaysia the day after tomorrow.
The same opponent was also in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Asian Games. The Saif Hasan-led team had a hard time winning that time. Bangladesh won the match by 2 runs in the last ball. However, this time Bangladesh has sent a relatively strong team.
Still, Bangladesh team coach Mohammad Salahuddin is not taking Malaysia lightly.
“There can be upsets in such tournaments because the same wicket is played repeatedly. The toss can be a factor here at times. That’s why I would say that every match is very important. We shouldn’t win it in advance. We have to win it by playing,” he told reporters in Japan today.
Several matches were abandoned due to rain in this edition of the Asian Games. If the match against Malaysia had not been played due to rain, Bangladesh would have advanced to the semi-finals as they are ahead in the rankings. However, Salahuddin wants to win the match by playing.
The coach said, ‘I will be very happy if the match happens; because, when you suddenly play a match directly after 5-7 days without a match (in the semi-finals or final), it will be very difficult. How we play the first match… from there we will think about the next one. We should think about the first match instead of thinking about the next one first.’
The coach added, “The whole country is looking forward to the Asian Games. I think the boys have that motivation. We also know how important it is.”