Bangladesh captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza encouraged his side to play with freedom when they lock horns with India today in the blockbuster Asia Cup Twenty20 final in Mirpur.
With the entire country waiting with bated breath, Mashrafe urged his charges not to take undue pressure upon themselves and just do the basics right as their moment of truth has finally arrived.
“Very rarely do we play tournament finals like this. On occasions like this, you can get puzzled at times. But I think only those teams win who are not afraid to take decisions and are aggressive when the going gets tough,” Mashrafe told the press conference previewing the final at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
“We will try to continue playing with freedom. Since we do not have many experiences of playing in hyped-up matches like this, we are trying our best to avoid pressure as much as possible,” said Mashrafe.
When queried by the media if today’s encounter will be the Tigers’ biggest in history, Mashrafe opined, “As a captain I would say the 2015 World Cup quarter-final was more significant. But this game is also a huge one.
“Since this is a final, the flavour is also different. But we’re treating this game as just another tie. We would like to continue the way we have been playing in the last three matches.”
In the recent and distant past, the Tigers have faced India on numerous occasions, especially in limited-over cricket. Consequently, there has been no love lost between the cricketers of the two sub-continent teams.
On the eve of the grand finale against their neighbours, Mashrafe said their rivalry has dished out many intriguing battles in the past and today will be no different.
“Look, there are no questions regarding their strength. Their first six batsmen are all world-class, especially in ODIs and T20Is. Also in Tests. There are no specific areas where we can nullify them,” he said.
With that said, Mashrafe added, “We have to bowl well throughout the 20 overs. They will obviously try to charge our bowling. In these kind of matches, the damage is done in the first or final six overs. We have to be focussed during that time.”
Mashrafe believes they are more than capable of mounting a stiff title challenge despite the absence of pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman, who has proved to be India’s nemesis in recent times. Mustafizur missed out on the Pakistan clash after suffering a side-strain injury during their win over Sri Lanka.
In his absence, Taskin Ahmed, Al Amin Hossain and Mashrafe himself took up the responsibility and exhibited a fine pace-bowling performance against Pakistan. The “Narail Express” is hoping for one more of the same today.