COLOMBO, July 28: Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer said on Wednesday his team was downcast after the Asia Cup defending champions failed to qualify for the final.
Pakistan's hopes of making the final were dashed on Tuesday when India won a cliff hanger second-round league match against Sri Lanka by four runs.
Sri Lanka (13 points) and India (12 points) set up a title encounter on Aug 1, rendering the last Super League fixture between Pakistan (5 points) and Bangladesh (no point) insignificant.
"We're obviously disappointed at what happened last night," Woolmer told reporters as he supervised Pakistan's training session at the R. Premadasa Stadium. "At one stage, Sri Lanka was cruising for a victory, but India played well ... congratulations to them," said Woolmer, the former South Africa coach who took charge of the Pakistan team ahead of the Asia Cup.
Woolmer rued the seven-wicket loss to Sri Lanka last week, which he said cost Pakistan a place in the final. "If we had beaten Sri Lanka, we wouldn't have been in this situation," he said.
Pakistan recovered to defeat India by 59 runs on Sunday, but failed to claim the bonus point that would have kept it level with India ahead of both teams' last fixtures.
Woolmer said the Pakistan team was approaching Thursday's match against Bangladesh just as any other international, even if a win would not help Pakistan make the final.
"We want to win this game and have a 4-1 win-loss record in the tournament," he said. Meanwhile, Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar has challenged his team to bow out of Asia Cup on a high note.
They were the first team to arrive for the tournament in Sri Lanka. But despite extra preparation, they have only managed to beat Hong Kong in their four games so far.
"I am not happy with performances of the team in this tournament. There are no positives to be drawn from matches we have played," said Habibul. "All our players are upset with their performances so far. But we have had a break (since last game) in which to reassess our strengths and weaknesses."
He added: "If we win the toss against Pakistan, we will field first and try to contain them. "But apart from Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana, Yasir Hameed and Shoaib Malik are playing very well for Pakistanis."
Habibul believes the tournament has been another step in learning process for his team. Apart from Hong Kong game, Bangladesh have only won one limited overs international since 1999 World Cup. "This experience shows we will have to work harder, both mentally and physically," said coach Dav Whatmore.
TEAMS (FROM):
PAKISTAN: Inzamamul Haq (captain), Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Moin Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Imran Nazir, Rana Naveedul Hasan.
