‘Surely not’

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza smiled widely when an Australian journalist asked him to talk about the match in Cardiff 14 years ago, when Bangladesh notched their only win over Australia.

The smile grew wider when his wicket of legendary Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist was mentioned. Although most remember Mohammad Ashraful's sublime century during that five-wicket win, Mashrafe's 10 overs for just 33 runs was also crucial as it kept the mighty Australians to a manageable total.

Mashrafe fondly remembered the celebrations after Bangladesh's historic result.

"I got his wicket, I guess -- Adam Gilchrist," said Mashrafe. "That night, suddenly, a limousine arrived in front of the hotel and everyone got inside."

Bangladesh will face Australia in a World Cup match today and despite the opposition being considerably weaker than the all-time great team that Bangladesh upset 14 summers ago, a much-improved Tigers will still go into the match as firm underdogs.

"And obviously that Australia was very strong," Mashrafe said about the team that included Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Jason Gillespie, Damien Martyn and Michael Hussey.  "Australia are always a special team, especially in the World Cup. They always play at their best in the World Cup. It won't be easy.

"But it's been a nice memory. I can remember everything we did on that particular day and night. But I hope that the same day will come tomorrow, but for that we have to play hard and at our best."

England head coach Trevor Bayliss knows his side must shut out the noise of an expectant nation as they prepare for a first World Cup final in 27 years.

The host nation produced an inspired display to complete an eight-wicket victory over Australia at Edgbaston on Thursday and will meet New Zealand at Lord’s tomorrow.

With the showpiece event also being broadcast on a free-to-air platform following an agreement between rights holders Sky and Channel 4, expectations will be elevated even further.

Australian Bayliss, though, has called for calm as England look to go one better than they did in their last World Cup final appearance in 1992, when they lost against Imran Khan’s Pakistan in Melbourne.

“We had a chat in the changing room (at Edgbaston) afterwards and realised we have not won anything yet,” Bayliss told BBC radio.

“There is going to be a lot of noise around ‘you guys are now the favourites’, and all this type of thing -- we can’t listen to any of that.

“We have just got to concentrate on the way we have gone about our cricket over the past four years and what has got us to this point and go through our process.”

After Australia were all out for 223 in 49 overs, England opener Jason Roy struck a superb 85 from 65 balls as he put on yet another big stand with Jonny Bairstow to break the back of the run chase.

Roy was fined for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision after he was wrongly given out caught behind. Bayliss, though, feels the 28-year-old can soon put the incident behind him.

“I think it shows the passion Jason has got for the game, and it is such a big game as well, when he was on the verge of scoring a hundred,” the England head coach said.

“He will learn from that and go on to bigger and better things, I am sure.”

The Surrey batsman is expected to be in contention for a place in the Ashes squad but Bayliss was giving little away, keeping his focus on the one-day format.

Bayliss said the return of live international cricket to traditional free-to-air television for the first time since the 2005 Ashes was “an opportunity to influence another generation of young cricketers”.

The 56-year-old is set to step down at the end of his current deal in September, no matter what the summer brings.

“I have always been a believer that four or five years is long enough, whether you are doing well or not,” he said. “It is time for a new voice for the boys, to hopefully take them to another level.”

Expectations were high ahead of the World Cup in England but upon the team’s return home yesterday, captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza spoke of his disappointment of not meeting their own expectations in the coveted tournament, although he lauded the poise from the youngsters.

Aside from Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman and Liton Das, all of whom are currently on vacation, the rest of the Tigers departed from Heathrow Airport on July 6.

Following their quarterfinal exit in the 2015 edition, the Tigers left for the ongoing World Cup with high hopes of reaching the semifinals for the first time in history.

The accumulation of experience and the fact that the team won their first multi-nation tournament just ahead of the World Cup during a tri-series on their tour of Ireland, where they beat West Indies in the final, provided the team with impetus going into the showpiece event.

Expectations were further justified when they began their campaign with a win against South Africa. However, results did not go their way when it mattered most. Given the format, where all ten teams played each other in the group stage, it was always going to be a tough ask. Yet, the Tigers finished well below the expected mark, ending in eighth place after having targeted a semifinal berth.

“We went there with expectations and from that point of view it is disappointing. If we look at the whole World Cup and how we played, if some things went in our favour, we could have played the semifinals. Overall it was a positive experience but at the same time, the expectations were higher and from that point of view, it was disappointing,” Mashrafe told reporters yesterday upon his arrival at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

The close defeat to New Zealand and the washed out match against Sri Lanka certainly played a hand but Mashrafe took responsibility nevertheless.

“As a captain, when the team does not fulfil expectations, then I will have to accept criticism. Of course I am taking full responsibility and at the same time it is normal that there will be criticism anywhere in the world after a big tournament,” the inspirational skipper added.

While his disappointment was evident when he suggested that ‘the chips were down’ in crucial matches, Mashrafe spoke highly of the youngsters’ efforts and said they should not be blamed, adding that some could match the levels of the current Big Five.

“It’s always the young players who are particularly blamed. Those who are seniors now, they were young once and not as consistent as they are now. The youngsters now are playing with a level of consistency and under a kind of intense pressure that we did not have to face when we were young,” Mashrafe said, referencing younger players like Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehedi, Mustafizur and Liton Das.

“So, they cannot be blamed unilaterally. They tried very hard. It is a big stage and it is not easy to perform here. I am hoping that with more experience they will reach the levels shown by Shakib, Tamim, Mushfiqur and Riyad.”

Lack of consistency played a key role for the captain in their campaign, which could have ended differently. However, Shakib Al Hasan performed magnificently throughout the tournament and the captain duly credited his star all-rounder.

“Shakib was outstanding. Shakib, Mushfiqur [Rahim], Mustafizur and Saifuddin played outstanding cricket. The others performed less consistently. At some particular points we needed luck to be on our side but that did not happen.”