World Cup news: Shakib wants Bangladesh to play fearless cricket against India

Tags: WC Cricket 2015, 2nd Quarter-Final - India Vs Bangladesh at Melbourne, Mar 19, 2015, India, Bangladesh

Published on: Mar 17, 2015

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BAN vs IND Preview: Eight years after Bangladesh played a key role India's shock exit from the 2007 World Cup, the teams will meet again.

Eight years after Bangladesh played a key role India's shock exit from the 2007 World Cup, the teams will meet again. This time in the second quarter finals of 2015 World Cup, at Melbourne. Although eight years have passed since that unbelievable loss, it is something that still rankles Indian cricket, just like the embarrassment of the 1996 World Cup semi-final. India definitely are much stronger this time, and would start as favourites, but Bangladesh would do well to revoke memories of the 2007 torture in India's mind.

Recalling that historic win in a press conference, noted all-rounder Shakib-Al-Hasan stated that it was fearless cricket that was responsible for Bangladesh's win at Port-of-Spain, and called upon his players to go into the quarter final match with the same mindset. "I think we played fearless cricket and we all want to play that brand of cricket that we played," Shakib told the press, while answering a query on that famous triumph. Shakib added that he feels the team has been doing something similar in this edition as well. "If we continue doing the same, we should do well against India too," Shakib added.

The Bangladesh all-rounder admitted that India are an extremely dangerous side, and hence they would not find it easy to overcome them. At the same time, he also expressed confidence in his own team's ability, stating that they have it in them to rise to the occasion. Shakib believed that if Bangladesh started well, and kept the momentum going against India 'anything could be possible'. "India have a very good team, with some world class players but we're doing well in this World Cup, our confidence is high enough and we're up for the match," he added.

Of all the teams that have qualified for the quarters, the probability of Bangladesh making it through was least likely. But, the stupendous win over England, aided by the rained-out game against Australia, and victories over Afghanistan and Scotland have made their progress possible. Obviously, the expectations from the fans are sky high. But, Shakib preferred to play down the same. "In the subcontinent, people always expect a lot from you and because we're playing well there is some expectation. But we need to focus on the game and how well we can play the game, that's the key thing," he concluded.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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