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Old April 8, 2007, 07:56 AM
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oporajeyo_bangla oporajeyo_bangla is offline
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Join Date: August 12, 2006
Location: Boston, USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OZGOD
It was a fantastic Bangladesh win today. Bangladesh is my second team after OZ in this tournament (Ozzies love an underdog). I'm hoping they can maintain their consistency and put in a big one against the WI and England.

I'm not surprised that Bangladesh won - they've been putting in the odd big performance where they show they can mix it with the big boys. This has been offset by some thrashings where they've looked very ordinary. The next hurdle for them is consistency - being able to put in good performances day in day out, and minimising the performance and results gap between a good game and a bad game.

Now the team needs to go on with things and beat WI, Ireland and England. Expectations for qualification will be much higher now than they were yesterday. If they manage to beat England, then the pressure will be on against Ireland, because for a change they will be favourites in that match. If they go on to beat Ireland then the pressure will really be on against WI, because that game will have a lot riding on it - it will be a crunch match against a "peer level" side (as opposed to the crunch Bermuda match which was a bit of a mismatch, to be fair). We'll see what kind of spine Whatmore has instilled in his team - the fact that Bangladesh have strung together two victories over top ranked sides in the space of six or so matches shows that a spine is building. But so far they haven't had a lot of pressure because they haven't been expected to qualify - one they realise that they have a chance the pressure will really be on. It can be a defining moment for a team - the moment that it comes through in a crunch game and realises: "hey, we're just as good as these other guys, we can compete with them". Once those mental roadblocks are overcome then I think that's when you'll see the consistency at the top level arrive.

Will Bangladesh crumble under pressure or will they find that next gear and overcome those mental roadblocks? Who knows? But that's what's exciting - to me this is what the WC is about, Cinderella teams making runs. And Bangladesh need to play these sorts of matches, where there is pressure and where there is a lot at stake - so that they can build the kind of mental strength they need to become more consistent. You want your team to be tested, to be put under the hammer, to see how they respond, and to make them stronger.

Good luck and hope to see you in the semis!
Thanks for your support OzGod!!! Hope to see you in the semi's!
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