It’s make or break for Tigers

Bangladesh pacer Mashrafee bin Murtaza runs with the ball (L) while Sri Lankan player Nuwan Kulasekara (R) plays football with a team-mate during their teams’ training sessions at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday. — AFP photos

Bangladesh refused to dwell on the past when they take on Sri Lanka in a do-or-die match of the Asia Cup today where a simple win will give them a ticket to the final. 
Bangladesh were in a similar situation in the tri-nation tournament in 2009 when they lost to Zimbabwe in the opening match and needed a superhuman effort against Sri Lanka to make it to the final.
The Tigers had restricted Sri Lanka to 147 in the 31-over match and needed to win the game with a bonus point to take their run-rate above Zimbabwe’s and set up a final against the islanders.
Sakib al Hasan did exactly what Bangladesh needed, scoring 92 off 69 balls and completing a five-wicket victory to take the Tigers to the final. Bangladesh could have easily won the tournament if they could maintain the same intensity after reducing Sri Lanka to five for six at the start of the game.

It was then the single instance of a team losing five wickets in an ODI before reaching double digit, but a sedate half-century from Kumar Sangakkara and some late onslaught broke the Tigers’ heart.
Asked if Bangladesh will carry the memory as an inspiration, Mashrafee bin Murtaza, who had a decent contribution in Bangladesh’s win at group stage with three wickets, said he is against the idea of living in the past. 
‘I don’t consider all those things as source of inspiration,’ said Mashrafee, representing the Tigers in the pre-match press briefing at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday. 
“Whether I played well against Sri Lanka or will not be considered for tomorrow’s [today’s] match. I have to play well so it’s no use thinking of the past,’ said Mashrafee.
The paceman was rather looking to the recent past when they gave Pakistan a scare and stunned India with a five-wicket win, which gave them an edge over the defending champions on head-to-head count.
Tournament rules said if teams finish with equal wins and points, the result of the matches between them will be counted first before the net rate means Bangladesh just need a simple win.
Only a couple of weeks ago India were praying for Sri Lanka to lose their game against Australia for them to make it to the Commonwealth Bank series final, but now they are exactly on the opposite side of the road.
Only a Sri Lanka win over Bangladesh can take them to Thursday’s final against arch-rivals Pakistan, whom they had defeated convincingly on Sunday to stay in the race.
Mashrafee, however, said Bangladesh can very well ruin India’s hopes should they can play the way they did in their first two matches. 
‘The way we had played against Pakistan and India if we can do that then we have a chance. It’s a must-win match for us and we are taking this seriously,’ he said.
‘The junior players like Nasir Hossain and Nazimuddin are contributing whereas Sakib is playing well all through the tournament and the return of Tamim to form is a plus point for us,’ said Mashrafee.
‘We are working individually. We will make a plan in the dressing room and will like to execute that,’ said Mashrafee.
Mashrafee said that they would not like to take any extra pressure for this match and it would be better if they just stick to their basic gameplan and not think about final.
‘At the start of the tournament I said we are not aiming to play in the final. We want to play good cricket and we proved that if we can play to our potential then we can beat them,’ Mashrafee.
‘Because we have won against India and played well against Pakistan this situation has arisen. There is no use of losing our head thinking of the final,  rather we should try to play the way we played in the tournament so far,’ he said.
Bangladesh are to make at least one change in the side with paceman Shafiul Islam out injured and has been replaced by left-arm pacer Abul Hasan in the squad.
It is, however, still not confirmed if Hasan will make his debut or the team will bring in Nazmul, the man who tends to carry good luck for the Tigers in crunch matches.