ICC World Cup 2023: Taskin Ahmed weighs in on Bangladesh's chance of qualifying in semis

Taskin Ahmed (Pic: AFP)

Ahead of their ICC World Cup 2023 league stage clash against the Netherlands on Saturday, Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed said that there is still a chance for his side to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, the Bangladeshi speedster said that they need to win the rest of the four games in the tournament to move to the next round of the ICC World Cup 2023.

"It's not finished yet. Still, four more games to go. If we can win those four, anything can happen because there are some run rate issues and also like a lot of teams like England and Afghanistan beat England they lost against Sri Lanka. So, if we can win four there will be a different story maybe but at the moment we are planning to go match by match. Yes, we didn't play well enough as we expected from both units, batting, and bowling, but four games to go. So, we are looking forward to doing well as well," Taskin said as quoted by ICC.

When asked about Bangladesh's weaker side on the field, Taskin said that they were good with the fielding but they haven't done well with both bat and ball and they need more improvement.

"As I told before, as we expected, our fielding was pretty good so far in this tournament but batting and bowling I think as we expected we haven't done enough well so there are a lot more improvements. But also, we know that we are better than that. And we are capable. But yeah, we haven't done great. So, hoping to do well in the next four matches," he added.

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Talking about the Eden Gardens' pitch, he said that most likely it's going to be a very good wicket and the outfield will be very fast.

"Tomorrow we are going to play the first match in the World Cup here. So, we haven't seen any matches. Most likely it's going to be a very good wicket, sporting wicket. So normally when I played here before, what I have seen, is a very good batting track. The outfield is pretty fast. But there will be, I think, for both, the bowler, and batsman both going to get some help. So, it's going to be a very good sporting wicket in my thoughts. So, we'll see when we're going to play tomorrow," he added.

In their previous five games of the tournament, Bangladesh have won only one game in the ongoing ODI World Cup. They are coming into their upcoming match after losing against South Africa by 149 runs.

Shakib Al Hasan's side is standing in eight place in the ODI World Cup standings with just two points.

(With inputs from agencies)