Tigers motivated to beat Pakistan: Shakib

Despite being at their lowest ebb following five defeats on the trot in the ICC Cricket World Cup, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan believes the players will be motivated enough to win the game when they take on Pakistan on Tuesday at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The motivation actually stemmed from the hopes to play the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan in 2025, for which Bangladesh need to finish at top eight.

A place in the top eight will be guaranteed if the Tigers could win at least two matches in the last three games in the World Cup. Bangladesh currently are in ninth place, one place higher than bottom table defending champions England, thanks to better run rate.

Mathematically Bangladesh's semifinal hopes are still on paper but there is lot of ifs and buts involved here.

"I think more than me, the whole team talked about what we need to do. There is a lot to play for. As you know, we have to win to be able to qualify for the Champions Trophy. That's an important target I think we can set at this moment and to do that we have to win. We have no other options and that's what we would look to do," Shakib said during the pre-match conference on Monday in Kolkata.

"Target is to try to win, do our best and look for the two points that are to take. So, we'll try our best to do that," he added.

Following their dismal performance that included a shock defeat to Netherlands in the last match, many saw the demise of Bangladesh cricket. It is believed that after that defeat at the hands of Dutch, it would be tough for Bangladesh to win any match in the World Cup.

But Shakib refused to give up the hopes, saying: "Talk is cheap when it's not working. So, we'll do it at the ground so the action can take care of it and everyone can see it."

"We discussed about it (dismal performance), we had our team meetings, so we sat down, we talked about it, how we can overcome the situation we are in now, but we have to show it in action," he added.

"I mean, only us, we can change the situation of the team with our action. So that's what we are trying to do," Shakib said.

Pakistan also haven't been in a position to be relaxed. After winning the first two matches, they lost four straight matches, which put their semifinal hopes in jeopardy. A win against Bangladesh is necessary for them to revive the hopes.

Shakib is also aware of that but said the only thing which is in his head now is to win the game at any cost.

"I don't want to rate any team at this moment. We have a very important match tomorrow [Tuesday], which we want to win. Same thing I think goes with Pakistan as well. They want to win as well. So, the team that will play better, will win. We'll try our best to play better than Pakistan so that we can win the match," the ace all-rounder remarked.

/MHK/