Pakistan will look to score a big win over rivals Bangladesh in their quest to push for a semifinal berth at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
Pakistan coach Grant Bradburn has said his squad is determined to rescue their faltering ICC Cricket World Cup campaign when they meet South Asian rivals Bangladesh at the historic Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata.
Pakistan are on the verge of a group-stage exit at the tournament and need to defeat Bangladesh on Tuesday to preserve any slim hopes of making the semifinals.
“To prepare ourselves and give our best are the things that we focus on, the things within our control and there are great expectations and we’re desperate to make our nation proud,” Bradburn told reporters on Monday.
He said the team is hurting from their woeful campaign where wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka have been followed by defeats to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
“We’re in a position that we didn’t want to be,” said Bradburn, whose team also has a poor net run-rate of -0.38.
“We were determined at this stage of the tournament to be in control of our destiny but we’re not.
“That hurts the group and all we can do now is control what we can control, and that is prepare well for three remaining pool games and then allow fate to be hopefully leaning on us in terms of our semifinal hopes from there.”
Bradburn said Bangladesh will be a tough challenge even though the Tigers have lost five out of six and will definitely be eliminated if they lose again on Tuesday.“They’re a quality group of cricketers but we are well prepared for them,” said Bradburn.
