Earlier, centuries from captain Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed played a big role in the big win of 238 runs against Nepal, who were restricted to 104 runs in the first match in Multan. Later, Shadab Khan’s four made the victory even easier. So far in this tournament, Pakistan’s bowling and batting has been like 99 out of 100.
But Shoriful’s thought process ahead of the match against in-form Pakistan is quite simple. Whatever their rank and how good their form, they will have to start afresh at the Gaddafi Stadium today, Wednesday. In a new match against new opponents, they cannot afford to let them wallow in memories of a golden past.
Reminding this fact, Shaoriful said, “They are a good team, no. 1 in the rankings. But at the end of the day it’s about the ball and the bat. We look at it in the same way and take it as a normal match. We don’t want to think too much ahead of the match.”
The most important thing before such an exam is a good night’s sleep. There is no reason to ruin it before facing Pakistan in its own backyard. Instead, it is better to de-stress with singing, dancing and quiz programmes.
*The report, which was originally published in the print edition of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Syed Faiz Ahmed.