Bangladesh Uneasy Favourites

BERMUDA NEWS

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Bashar - ensuring there are no slip-ups.

Bangladesh will not underestimate Bermuda when the two meet in their World Cup Group B match on Sunday, according to captain Habibul Bashar.

The side from the sub-continent need just a point against the minnows, making their debut in the tournament, to advance to the Super Eight at the expense of India.

Bangladesh's strong position is by virtue of their surprise win over India and even defeat by group winners Sri Lanka has not dented their chances.

All the talk in the Caribbean is of India's premature exit, following neighbours Pakistan out of the competition, but Bashar will not allow that to influence his team's thinking.

"We are not underestimating them. We know what can happen in this game and we will be going all out to ensure that we stay in the game at all points and compete well," he said.

"This is a great opportunity for us to make it to the Super Eight and we are not going to throw away our chances.

"The team knows what is required and we are going to play to our plan.

"The loss against Sri Lanka is out of our minds and we are looking for a similar display, like the one we had against the Indians."

Bashar said when his players arrived in the Caribbean, they had no knowledge of the Bermudans.

"But we have seen them and know what we are up against. I am very confident that we will be joining Sri Lanka in the next round," he added.

Bashar admitted Bangladesh did not play well against Sri Lanka, saying: "We did not click and there was no department of our game in which we played to our potential. We will be looking to correct this."

However, Bermudan captain Irving Romaine promised Bangladesh were unlikely to have everything their own way.

"We are going into the game to win. In fact, we came here knowing that Bangladesh would probably be the team we could beat and we still believe that," he said.

"We know that India would benefit tremendously from us winning but our interest is not India, it is to get off the mark in the World Cup."

Romaine said Bermuda had a lot to gain if they defeated the Asian team.

"It will certainly help more people to take notice of us. We have some good players who have enjoyed their time at the World Cup and we always knew that this last game would be a key one in terms of run rates and stuff," he added.

"We are going to come out fighting and hope that we can get an opening, to challenge for a win."