T20 World Cup 2024
Wasim Jaffer: Nepal can cause an upset against Bangladesh
|| CF DESK ||
Former Bangladesh U-19 coach and Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer warned the Bangladesh cricket team before they take on Nepal in the last match of the group stage of the T20 World Cup.
Wasim believes Nepal has the potential to make an upset in the World Cup by defeating Bangladesh as they gave tough competition to South Africa in the previous match.
Nepal fell just short one run to secure their first-ever victory over a full member nation in T20Is when they scored 114 in reply to South Africa’s 116-run target.
“The way they played against South Africa. At one point they looked like favourite to win the match because they were on 99-3 while chasing 116 runs after that there was a complete collapse. They have the potential and if they can deliver the same performance they can even upset Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh also have a golden chance, they have been playing well in the tournament. It will be a crucial match for them as well. Nepal has nothing to lose and the way they have played against South Africa, it will definitely boost their confidence,” he added.
The former coach also backed Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto despite his poor run in the tournament by drawing comparisons from his performances in the last T20 World Cup and BPL.
“Shanto performed quite well in the T20Is last year. He is a three-format cricketer and he is also good in Tests. Even in ODIs, he did well. But he could not meet the expectations in the T20Is. If we talk about BPL and last year's T20 World Cup his performance was not that bad maybe because of the captaincy his performance suffered. He is the all-format captain and he has the ability,” he added.
Bangladesh will square off against Nepal on June 17 in their last match of the group-stage.