We don’t need to prove anything to the Aussies- Mashrafe
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|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza said that they are not interested to prove anything to Australia despite the fact they are reluctant to host them or play regularly with Tigers.
Australia remains the only Test nation against whom Bangladesh didn’t win more than one match. Indeed they didn’t win an ODI against Australia in this decade –their only victory came against Australia in 2005 at Cardiff thanks to Mohammad Ashraful’s blistering 100.
That time Bangladesh’s win against the then all-conquering Australia, boasted with the likes of Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Mathew Hayden, and so many great players, was termed as the biggest upset in the ODI cricket history.
After 2011, Bangladesh indeed faced off Australia just twice—in 2015 World Cup and 2017 ICC Champions Trophy—and both times the match was washed out, meaning they didn’t play any compete for ODI games against Aussies since 2011.
Australia is the team which however didn’t host Bangladesh to play any bilateral series since 2008 and quite often refused to tour in Bangladesh showing security concern before touring Tigers land for a two-match Test series in 2017. Bangladesh drew that Test series but no ODI series is played then.
‘’I don't think we have to prove them, but it's always disappointing when you're not touring and not coming and not playing in such a big site. It's always disappointing. You can learn a lot of things when you're traveling, that sort of part of the world like Australia, England, New Zealand and obviously South Africa,’’ said Mashrafe.
‘’So there's so many things we can learn, especially the (indiscernible) teams,’’ he said.
‘’It's always disappointing when that sort of thing happens. But again I would say that what has happened before, we don't have to think about it,’’ he said.
‘’It's a tournament that everyone wants to play well. Everyone wants to win. And this is the right time and to prove ourselves that we are in a better side than what we've been,’’ he said.
‘’And playing for your nation, that's a big thing. So I think it boils -- only think about what you mean actually, that not having tools and can sell all those tools.But for this tournament, to stay in this tournament it's a very important match. Again, Australia is very difficult but it's not that impossible. So we have to fight and let's see,’’ he concluded
