It is very disappointing: Mashrafe
Pic: Cricfrenzy.com
|| Desk Report ||
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza on Wednesday expressed his disappointment over Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for tweaking the fixture of Asia Cup.
The latest fixture will force them to play back-to-back matches, scheduled to start from Friday. All the four teams have been finalized even with two group matches left and Group A and Group B champions yet to be decided.
“It is very disappointing. Basically what has happened is that we were made the second team in Group B even before we played the last game,” Mashrafee told reporters before joining the practices session Wednesday.
“We came here with a plan. We would play Sri Lanka first and if we won and played well we would be group champions and play the runners-up of Group A,” he said.
As per the original scheduled of Asia Cup it was stated A1 vs B2 and A2 vs B1 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, respectively.
However, ACC changed its already-announced schedule of the ongoing Asia Cup that looked to be a move apparently to please India, the host of the tournament in the UAE as they published the fixtures list of the Super Four stage starting on Friday.
According to the Super Four schedule announced following Hong Kong's marginal loss to India, the Men in Blue will now play all their Super Four matches in Dubai regardless of the other teams’ position in their respective groups.
India were given A1 status before their decider match against Pakistan, but the ACC has also assumed that Afghanistan and Bangladesh will be B1 and B2, respectively. However, the latter two are yet to play each other in their group match after both won against Sri Lanka.
India and Pakistan will play Bangladesh and Afghanistan, respectively, on Friday to kick off the Super Four stage. This means Bangladesh, who play Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, would be travelling to Dubai to face off India on Friday.
“This morning we heard that we are already Group B runners-up regardless of whether we win or lose tomorrow. So of course it is disappointing.
“So we'll play – of course it is an international match where we are representing our nation, so of course it's important. But whether you are talking about group stage matches or Super Four matches, there are certain rules within which they operate. We are getting away from the rules, so it's disappointing,’’ he said.
“Even a mad person would be upset,” he added when his attention was drawn regarding the entire affair and its side-effect on the team.
Host India had expressed a desire to play all their matches in Dubai and it seems they have gotten their wish fulfilled, and the fixtures have been set in such a way that while other teams will have to adjust their plans.
