Bangladesh look to join Cup giant killers

Superstar allrounder Shakib Al Hasan believes Bangladesh has the potential to join Ireland among the World Cup’s giant killers ahead of Saturday’s clash with Australia.

Bangladesh are the least-fancied of the five Test-playing nations in Pool A to progress to the quarter-finals, behind Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England, and are ranked ninth in one-day international cricket. 

However Shakib, the world’s No.1-ranked allrounder in all three forms of the game, says a tournament such as this provides the ideal platform for the underdogs to demonstrate their ability against the world’s heavyweights.

"The World Cup is perfect,” Shakib told cricket.com.au recently.

"To perform on the big stage is a great opportunity – not for me only, but for the team as well, because we’re still improving and we need to show to the world that yes, we’re an improved team now and we can beat bigger teams.

"We did it in the 2007 World Cup – we beat India and South Africa.

"In the 2011 World Cup we beat England, so hopefully this time we’ll beat some big teams and qualify for the second round – that will be a great achievement for us."

Bangladesh play their first match of the World Cup against Afghanistan in Canberra today, before returning to their ‘home’ base in Brisbane to take on Australia at the Gabba.

The 27-year-old, who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm orthodox spin, says the Bangladeshis don’t fear the foreign conditions, with the Brisbane wicket traditionally fast and bouncy.

"It’s a challenge, but I don’t think it will trouble us that much because in the World Cup people come to see runs and wickets, so they will be sporting wickets – good wickets for everyone," he explained.

"We are having a two-week camp in Brisbane, so that will help us, and everyone in the squad is preparing to adapt to these conditions.

"So we are having a very good preparation, hopefully it’s a good platform for us."

Shakib himself is no stranger to Australia, having appeared for Melbourne Renegades (2014-15) and Adelaide Strikers (2013-14) in the KFC T20 Big Bash League, and he is optimistic he can be a trailblazer for his compatriots.

"It’s a great experience for me, especially sharing a dressing room with so many great players," he said.

"It helps me learn what I need to do to become a very good player or even a great player.

"Someone (from Bangladesh) playing in the Big Bash is a big deal. Obviously we would like to see a few more guys playing.

"Hopefully in the near future we’ll see some more players coming over and playing – I think at least three or four guys would do well here.

"Hopefully if we do well in this World Cup then people will look at that platform and they might think, ‘Well these guys did well in Australia, they can do it in Big Bash’.”