by Shashi Agarwal
With Sri Lanka finally confirming a berth in the finals with the win over Afghanistan,the second finalist spot is still open with Pakistan most likely to grab it.But Bangladesh has shown it that they cannot be taken lightly and will like to come back stronger after their unexpected loss against Afghanistan.Also, Bangladesh would like to take a revenge of what happened in last year’s Asia Cup final, something against which Bangladesh Cricket Board complained to the ICC.Here is a look of Bangladesh’s main reasons of causing a potential upset
The main poitive for Bangladesh is the return of Shakib al Hasan.His return will not only strengthen the batting order but also ensure 10 tight overs.Moreover he will be a help to Rahim in terms of managing the team and some tricky decisions.Rahim looked out of sorts as captain in both their encounters, expecting things to happen too early .He doesn’t seem to have a backup plan if his plan doesn’t work and is being too defensive.The return of Shakib definetely gives the team a new dimension.
The spinners of Bangladesh will definetely give the Pakistani batsman a run for their money.Even in the absence of Gazi, they have enough options to trouble the batsman.With the conditions best known to them, they will test the Pakistani batsman who looked clueless against the Indian spinners.Also, the high number of bowling options allow to compensate for someone’s poor day at the field.
Shakib and Rahim will lead the batting display and will hope for a steady start after which they can trigger the accelerator.Rahim and co. knows that it will be important to see off Ajmal without much damage.Pakistan’s batting can be put under pressure with a score of something around 260.the middle order has been getting starts and it will be important for one of them to move on and make a big one, which will be enough for them to post a big one .Nassir Hossain’s recent form has been a worry but who knows it might be his day like it was of Afridi’s a few days back.
