Kolkata: Pakistan captain Babar Azam looked upset and was seen losing his patience the moment he got down to practice at the Eden Gardens on Monday, on the eve of Pakistan's ICC World Cup 2023 encounter with Bangladesh.
Eden's music system was playing loudly. After hearing that, he expressed his displeasure and asked to stop the music. The music system was switched off following the annoyance of the Pakistan skipper. The music system stopped playing for a while and began playing again. This time Babar Azam lost his temper.
The Pakistani cricketers were in love at the same time when they came for practice at Eden. Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, and Haris Rauf, visitors who came to see the practice took selfies.
The euphoria of the crowd as they left the Eden after practice was a reflection of how the Eden spectators would welcome Pakistanis on Tuesday. For the record, Eden has been a happy hunting ground for Pakistan as no team could beat Pakistan here barring Sri Lanka. Can Bangladesh set a precedent?
Pakistan head coach Grant Bradburn sidestepped the query. "The 10 best teams in the ICC rankings are participating. Before the World Cup, we were number one. To be honest we weren't that good. We have to play well and be desperate to win. So that the people of the country can be proud. Four losses in a row do not paint the correct picture of our situation. We now have to concentrate on tomorrow's match," Bradburn said at the pre-match presser at the Eden on Monday.
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Pakistan are placed sixth in the points table. Bangladesh at number nine. “There is a ban on playing in the IPL. That restriction did not trouble us. But India does not play with us. Many other countries do not play either. As a result, the environment in India is new to us. Which puts the team to the test,” the Kiwi coach added.
Babar Azam batted for quite some time at the net session. He spent a lot of time understanding the character of the 22 yards. Pakistan has set the target of winning the rest of the matches and making it to the last four. Pakistan wants to maintain the winning streak at Eden to sustain it.
On the other hand, for Bangladesh, this match is for academic interest. But since it is a match against Pakistan, the match will be an emotional one. At the same time, Bangladesh also has a stake in booking a berth for the Champions Trophy.
Captain Shakib Al Hasan's body language was changed following their crushing defeat against the Netherlands at the same venue 48 hours ago.
Shakib batted for a while at the nets. For the last two days, the Bangladesh team has been searching for the reason for such an abject failure. Shakib said that everyone on the team tried to find out where it went wrong. It remains to be seen whether their efforts come good on Tuesday.
However, both sides are entering the field with the wounds of repeated failures. Bangladesh and Pakistan are desperately trying to realize that they have to pull up their socks to arrest the declining graph.'
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