DHAKA, April 9: Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar hit out on Monday at World Cup killjoys who bemoan the absence of India and Pakistan saying the sub-continental giants do not have a right to be in the finals.

“Someone asked me whether the World Cup has become stale after the exit of India and Pakistan,” Bashar wrote in his column in the Prothom Alo newspaper.

“It seems that at any cost India and Pakistan should be included in the Super Eights. They are not saying that India and Pakistan lost two out of their three first round matches,” the skipper said.

“They don't have the right to play in the Super Eights,” he insisted. “If this attitude persists, one should organise ‘Top Ranking Cup’ instead of the World Cup, where the teams will play according to their rankings.

“The World Cup is not a property of one or two teams. It belongs to every one and the best team will win the Cup.”

Habibul was clearly irked after Bangladesh pulled off a major upset by beating what was the world’s top ranked team South Africa by 67 runs in Providence on Saturday.

He wrote in the Bengali daily that the win over South Africa would silence some of the ‘noises’ heard after Bangladesh lost their first two matches of the Super Eights round.

“I think this victory will stop all these things. Instead of spoiling the show, Bangladesh has made the World Cup more interesting. There are now plenty of teams now fighting for the semi-finals,” he added.

“We have a bright chance to play the semi-final if we can beat England. The English team has some good players but they are not playing well in the World Cup. So it will not be impossible to beat them,” he predicted.

Bangladesh meet England in their next match in Bridgetown on Wednesday, followed by Ireland and the West Indies at the same venue.—AFP