Possible for Bangladesh to win World Cup, feels Shakib Al Hasan

They have failed to cross the final hurdle on six occasions so far, the latest being in the final of the Asia Cup played in the UAE in September. But fans of the Bangladesh cricket team have started believing that even their favourite team can go on to win the world title. The country’s ace all-rounder and captain in Tests and T20Is, Shakib Al Hasan, feels the Bangladeshi fans have started expecting their country to be the world champions one day because they believe that it is pretty much possible.

Bangladesh made its first World Cup appearance in 1999 and they defeated Pakistan there. The team has since featured in five editions of the mega event and has beaten at least one Test-playing nation in all of them excepting 2003 when they failed to win a single match. Their best performance in the World Cup was in 2015 when they reached the quarter-finals and lost to India.

Fans’ outlook changed after they reached quarters in 2015 WC

Till then, crossing the first hurdle was the best possible result the team’s supporters had hoped for. But qualifying for the quarter-final in Australia in 2015 was something that changed the Bangladeshi fans’ outlook. They qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy in England last year which again was a feat good enough to make their supports confident about the team’s potential.

Shakib Al Hasan, who was ruled out of the Asia Cup mid-way because of a series finger injury and had to rush back home for a surgery, thinks it is possible for Bangladesh to fulfil the supporters’ dream by becoming the world champions as the team has already proved what they are capable of on a number of occasions. Shakib was declared fit to play in UAE T20x starting on December 23 in Dubai.

“The people of Bangladesh are expecting Bangladesh to be the champions this time. Never before did they say that we can win the World Cup. They are saying it this time because they have the belief. And we [the players] also believe it. I think everyone in BCB also believes that we can do something like this,” the 31-year-old cricketer who has over 10,000 runs and 500 wickets in international cricket, was quoted as saying by Dhaka-based Cricfrenzy.

Bangladesh is currently ranked 7th in the ICC ODI rankings though they have been one of the better-known sides in this format.

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