Champions Trophy only stake as Tigers face Sri Lanka
With their semifinal dreams already slashed, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will face off at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi today, with hopes of keeping their qualification dreams for the 2025 Champions Trophy alive.
Bangladesh are languishing at ninth position in the points table with just one win in seven games.
Sri Lanka haven't fared much better either, having won just two of their seven games and lie in seventh position.
The match is of no real importance in the context of the tournament but could prove crucial in the race for the Champions Trophy.
The top seven teams and hosts Pakistan, at the end of the group-stage, will qualify for the 2025 competition, and with Pakistan all but certain to finish in the top eight, finishing above the bottom two should be enough to ensure a qualifying spot.
Although it will be difficult for the demoralised Tigers to bounce back after losing their last six games on the trot, head coach Chandika Hathurusingha hoped that his team would turn up motivated against Sri Lanka in Delhi.
"The Champions Trophy [qualification] is up for grabs. We need to finish as high as possible. So, this game has a big impact on who finish higher," Hathurusingha told the media yesterday ahead of the game.
At the press conference, the 55-year-old accepted that the Tigers have not been able to perform according to their potential.
Batting has remained a concern throughout the tournament and questions are popping up whether not taking an extra batter in the squad has backfired.
Hathurusingha, however, saw no problem with the squad and felt the weight of expectations may have led to the batting failure.
"When we selected this team, before the World Cup, they had been performing. Their skill hasn't gone anywhere, whatever is going through our heads is the only thing that is disturbing us. We haven't played to our potential, we haven't shown what we are capable of," he said.
There was an injury scare in the Tigers' camp yesterday when Mushfiqur Rahim suffered a blow in his right thumb while facing throw-downs in the nets.
The team physician came rushing in and applied ice on his hand after which Mushfiqur returned to the nets again. However, after facing a couple of deliveries, Mushfiqur felt discomfort and cut his practice short.
Later in the night, the medical team informed that the wicketkeeper-batter's injury was not serious and he is expected to play today.
The toxic haze in Delhi hampered both team's preparations and will remain a challenge for both teams today.
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