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| February 6, 2003 | Thursday | Zul Hijjah 4,1423 |
Bangladesh to prove all over again
DURBAN, Feb 5: Bangladesh may have produced one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history with their 62-run victory over Pakistan in 1999 but feel they have to prove themselves all over again at this year’s tournament.
Questions were raised over the commitment of Pakistan’s effort four years ago, with the side already qualified for the next phase, and Bangladesh have since lost a world record 23 matches in a row before a match against West Indies was rained off.
“We certainly feel the need to prove ourselves once more at this World Cup,” Bangladesh manager Abu Sharif Mahmood Faruque said on Wednesday.
“There will be a lot of pressure on us and all we can do is keep working hard.
“But I think comments about the nature of our win against Pakistan in 1999 are totally unfair — we played hard to achieve that victory and there was nothing wrong in it.
“My boys are not involved in stupid things and I certainly don’t expect anything like that in this World Cup,” he added, referring to match-fixing allegations made after the 1999 World Cup.
“Our aims at this tournament are quite simple really,” said Faruque. “We have to beat Canada and Kenya and whatever good happens after that would be a bonus.”—Reuters
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