Mash plays down fans' pressure to win against India

|| CF Correspondent ||

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza said that they are not taking any psychological pressure as they prepare them to face India in  their do-or-die match at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Bangladesh are in the sixth position in the point table currently with seven points from seven games. India will come off in the match against Bangladesh with a 31-run drubbing to hosts England but they still remain in second position with 11 points from seven games.

While there is many ifs and buts, the fans went abuzz and keep the things heated up like the past in the social media outlet. And obviously the no-ball saga of 2015 World Cup came to the fore once again.

The Bangladeshi fans still believe if Rhoit Sharma was given out off the delivery of fast bowler Rubel Hossain, the Tigers can beat India to reach the 2015 World Cup semifinal.

Bangladesh and India so far faced off each other 35 times in ODI cricket in which India won 29 times in contrast of Bangladesh’s five.

In World Cup they however they met thrice with India winning two but Bangladesh drew the blood first in their first meeting in cricket’s biggest carnival. That was in 2007 when a young Bangladeshi side, comprised with the rookie like Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim stunned India by seven wickets, showing a sheering audacity.  Particularly Tamim’ straight six off Zaheer Khan went into the World Cup cricket’s folklore.

‘’No, I don't think it's psychological. It's all about skill. Obviously, cricket is a psychological game,’’ said Mashrafe.

‘’Fans are doing whatever they are thinking, so I don't think so in the middle, when we are playing, it's helping us a lot because all the pressure has to be handled while our players are playing,’’ he said.

‘’So it depends man to man, who will take pressure. Obviously, there's pressure in the field. It's a good thing that people are supporting Bangladesh cricket team,’’ he said.

‘’Obviously, they want us to win, which is normal, I think. Obviously, Indian fans also supporting Indian team, and they want to win. So it's a normal thing. But I don't think there's a lot of pressure. The teams -- those 11 players who play on the ground, in a difficult situation, they'll feel the pressure,’’ he added.