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LONDON: It’s Friday morning and Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza wins the toss and decides to bat first in their last group game against Pakistan at Lord’s.
Such a call from Mashrafe, if he beats Sarfraz Ahmed at the spin of the coin, would end any faint hopes Pakistan have of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals.
So bleak is the scenario for Pakistan that only by beating Bangladesh by more than 300 runs can they overtake New Zealand and make the cut for last four. They will have o chance or proceeding to the last four if Bangladesh bat first.
So what will Bangladesh do if they win the toss on Friday?
Their coach, Steve Rhodes, however, is not ready to tell you.
When posed this question by a reporter here at Lord’s on Thursday, Rhodes made it clear that answering the query would be like giving away important information.
“Great question,” replied Rhodes, who played 11 Tests for England. “Thank you very much for asking it.
“The reason I say that is I don’t like to give away too much tactically going into a game because I get a lot of my information listening to head coaches on the media from the opposition.
“So I don’t like to give away too much. I won’t be telling you what we’re going to do at the toss or how we approach the game.
“All I will be saying is there’s a game to win for Bangladesh, and that’s the important thing for us,” he added.
Though Rhodes was unwilling to talk about it, it won’t take a rocket scientist to know what Bangladesh will probably decide if they win the toss on Friday.
On a dry Lord’s wicket, any team would like to bat first and put a sizeable total. Bangladesh have a potent spin attack which should be able to create problems for Pakistan in the run-chase.
Rhodes believes that since Pakistan’s World Cup hopes continue to hang by a thread, the pressure would be on Sarfaraz Ahmed and his men in Friday’s match.
“We’ve got the pressure of 170 million back home wanting us to win, but we are out the tournament. Pakistan can still qualify. Maybe the pressure is all on Pakistan going into this game,” he said.