DHAKA: Pakistan and Bangladesh will play their first match warm-up before the World Cup at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka today.Assistance from Pakistan at least be taken seriously. “Every match before the World Cup will be difficult, ” said Shoaib Akhtar. “We’ll take it as a good match rather than thinking it is just a practice. We have seen India play against Australia, which was a game very seriously.
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Pakistan settled line-up enough and if they use 14 players today, it will be to test some of the young. Shehzad Ahmed, Asad Shafiq Khan and Junaid who have never played an international match in the subcontinent and this game would be a great way to blood the trio to a full house.
Bangladesh, however, had a different strategy, and were determined to play down the significance of the game. “They will play fourteen players, we’ll play thirteen so it’s not a real match, just a practice match,” Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons. said. “It is a really good challenge, actually a great practice game.”Pakistan are a good team but I’m not worried about them, I’m worried about us. We won’t be experimenting, the batting line-up will be close to our actually starting XI. We will use extra bowlers as part of the thirteen and give everyone a try.
Bangladesh captain, Shakib Al Hasan, adopted the same stance. “We are not thinking about the result but we are concentrating on properly using the practice game. We’d rather do well in the tournament than in these games. The players used the last game very well and I was impressed by the pacers. I think Rubel [Hossain] just returned from injury and he will come back better.”
This insistance on ignoring the result is an indication that the Bangladesh camp is keeping a close eye on the pressure the players might face in a home World Cup (although it is just a warm-up game), and why they are repeating the mantra that though a win is important for momentum, ultimately, “it’s not a real game”Bangladesh Vs Pakistan warm-up Live Streaming today
