Bangladesh head coach Steve Rhodes on Thursday said Bangladesh have the ability to beat any team in the World Cup. But he thinks the Tigers need to play their best brand of cricket to register wins in the condition of England which is not a regular destination for the Tigers.
“We need to be brutally honest to say what the main target of Bangladesh in the World Cup is. There’re some very good teams going to the World Cup. So, it’ll be very tough for the Tigers to do well in England. At the same time, there’re many sides who respect Bangladesh for their cricketing ability,” Rhodes told reporters at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Bangladesh started their preparation camp on April 22 ahead of the World Cup. But all of the members of the national team are yet to join the camp as they have just played tough competition in the Dhaka League.
“We’ve proved that what we can do. We’ve played in the Champions Trophy before I arrived here. We beat West Indies in a couple of series as well. So, we have the ability to beat any team in the World Cup. But to do that, we have to play our best cricket,” Rhodes further told reporters.
However, Bangladesh coach expressed his dissatisfaction about the performance in New Zealand. “In the last international series in New Zealand, it was very disappointing. We failed to turn the things up. Maybe we’re saving the best for later. But (Mohammad) Mithun and Sabbir (Rahman) did well, which was nice to take away. The boys were tired on the back of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).”
Traditionally, the International Cricket Council (ICC) tries to prepare batting-friendly wicket in its event. So, the things might be the same in the upcoming World Cup. Bangladesh coach believes the World Cup will witness a lot of high-scoring matches which can make the things tough for the Tigers.
Despite the unfamiliarity of scoring high-totals, Bangladesh coach thinks the guys are well to do that in England in an easy manner as the wickets of England are flat and the outfields are faster compared to Asian wickets.
“It’s more difficult for the bowlers in England to perform well. The wickets of England are flat. But our style is to contain runs and squeeze to pick up wickets. We may need to score bigger totals, but it’s a lot easier to do that in England. The outfields are fast. The wickets are generally flat and balls come on to the bat for good shots. This is why you see big scores in England,” Rhodes concluded.
