Kolkata (West Bengal): As Eden Gardens begins its ICC World Cup 2023 campaign with the Netherlands-Bangladesh match on Saturday, Bangladesh will hope to make a turnaround from here.
The two teams facing each other are placed at the bottom with Bangladesh in eighth position while the Dutch are placed 10th in the 10-team tournament. Bangladesh and The Netherlands are struggling with four losses in five matches.
Bangladesh player Taskin Ahmed also didn't mince his words in describing this as the turnaround match in the ICC World Cup 2023. "Our hope is not over. There are still four matches left. If we can win four matches, we can be optimistic. Incidents are happening in several matches in the World Cup. England has been defeated against countries like Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka.
"So if we win four matches the picture may be different. It is true that we did not play well in our earlier matches. We failed to match as a team in both the batting and bowling departments. But I want to do well as a team in the last four matches," Taskin Ahmed said at the pre-match press conference at the Eden on Saturday.
Shakib-Al-Hasan joined the team after returning from Bangladesh on Thursday night. However, he did not bat or bowl in practice on Friday. Shakib has been practising for the past two days under the childhood coach Nazmul Abedin Fahin at Mirpur Stadium for the last two days.
However, Taskin put his weight behind his former team captain and star all-rounder. "There is no reason to speculate about his return to the country. He returned home with permission. He is trying to get his rhythm back by practising something special,” said Taskin.
Bangladeshi pacer Taskin is also looking to get himself back to Eden Gardens on Saturday. An old shoulder injury kept him down. The doctors said that the problem would not be resolved even if he goes under the knife. Ahmed has practised for the last two days under bowling coach Allan Donald after having skipped the match against South Africa and India due to injury.
The Netherlands team is a giant killer in the current ICC World Cup 2023. A win against South Africa has brought the Dutch cricket team into the limelight.
Captain Scott Edwards says he wants to set goals while standing. He came to the World Cup with the goal of winning four matches. Edwards is looking to move towards that goal.
The team's fielding coach Ryan Cook was with the Bangladesh team. He is also helping the current team with information about the opposition. Edward Scott says they also want to play total cricket with batting and bowling.
