Mumbai, Oct 23: Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan believes an on-song South Africa are not impregnable and can be restricted to smaller totals in the World Cup like the Netherlands did, adding that he would need his fast bowlers over spinners to deliver.
Bangladesh, on a three-match losing streak, will face an uphill battle against South Africa here on Tuesday, who are coming off a 229-run thrashing of England and have recorded the two highest scores in the World Cup in four matches already.
After posting a monumental 428 for five against Sri Lanka in New Delhi, South Africa piled up 399 for seven against England. South Africa also had a good batting day against Australia, putting 311 for seven and their only blip with the bat came in the chase against the Netherlands, when they crumbled for 207 chasing 246 in a rain-truncated game.
Shakib told the media ahead of Bangladesh’s training here at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday, “The spinners will not play a big role in this venue, which is relatively a smaller ground. It is a high-scoring ground. Still, we are planning to restrict them for a lower total.”
“We are taking inspiration from how the Netherlands restricted them. We have been looking at their weaknesses for the last one or two years,” he added.
“We have to take it one game at a time. It does not matter if you win or lose your last game in a World Cup. What matters is who is performing better on the day,” said the Bangladesh captain.
“We saw South Africa flying high. We saw them lose to the Netherlands. They played brilliantly against England. We will prepare the way we usually prepare. We will try to play our best cricket and see where we are,” he added.
While ruling out Taskin Ahmed for the game owing to a shoulder injury, Shakib admitted Bangladesh fast bowlers are not in rhythm but hoped for a strong show.
“They have been doing well for a while. It does not matter if they are in rhythm, but how they bowl tomorrow. If we can all bowl, bat and field together, we can do something good. We believe that if we play our best cricket in ODIs, we can win against any team,” he said.(PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
