Onus on batsmen

Within the span of five months Bangladesh have the chance to appear in their third Asia Cup final, this time with the youths eyeing their maiden ACC Under-19 Asia Cup final appearance when they take on India in the first semifinal at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today.

First it was the women's team who clinched the Asia Cup in June, beating India in the final in Malaysia. The men's team also reached the final of the just-concluded Asia Cup in the UAE where they fell short by just three wickets against India.

Once again the opposition are India, this time however the Bangladesh under-19s will have to face them in the semifinal of a tournament in which Towhid Hridoy and his troops have not been able to display consistent cricket so far.

"We do not feel any mental block but it's the small mistakes we do on the field that have been the reason behind our defeats. Despite playing well, due to some small mistakes we are unable to win matches. There is no such pressure on us before the game as our players are in good rhythm and we are only focussing on our game. We are not thinking about our opponents," said skipper Towhid to reporters at the team hotel yesterday.

He also added that there are no such differences between India and Bangladesh at age level and informed that if they are able to give their best, the young Tigers can beat India in the Asia Cup much like they did in the previous edition.

Despite losing the opening game against Sri Lanka comprehensively by six wickets, Bangladesh came back well by beating Pakistan and Hong Kong in the next two games courtesy of some brilliant bowling.

With the likes of leg-spinner Rushed Ahmed and pacer Shoriful Islam, the young Tigers are confident of putting up a good show against India. However Hridoy informed that they will have to play well in all three departments, especially in batting as they were all out for just 141 against Sri Lanka.

"The bowling department is our strength as we did well in previous games but our aim is to play well in all departments. Our batsmen were unable to perform in the previous games and we have to overcome that as we have big games ahead and we have to prove that we are good batsmen," he added.