Time to prove it on the field

Nobody knows better than Mushfiqur Rahim as to how painful it was to suffer a 32-run defeat in their first ODI against Afghanistan at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium in March last year. That was one of the many crucial reasons behind him losing his ODI captaincy.
As a result, few cricketers will be happier than the wicketkeeper-batsman if Bangladesh manages to beat Afghanistan in their opener at the Manuka Oval.
“From Wednesday it will be a new start. I believe everybody has conserved their best. I firmly believe we will win tomorrow's match,” Mushfiqur said while reflecting on the much-talked about defeats in the practice matches.
Back then, Mushfiqur was slightly unlucky as he had to combat the Afghans without Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. This time around though, all three of them will be fit and ready to do their best.
After the warm-up losses, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe indicated that many of his players didn't take the game seriously and that they needed to up their tempo. Reflecting on his scathing statement yesterday, made immediately after the defeat to Ireland, Mashrafe said: “I did not mean that the boys did not take the practice matches very seriously. Some boys needed to be given chances during those matches as well. I believe that everybody will be able to give their best tomorrow.”
That the result of today's game has the potential to dictate the rest of the World Cup for the Tigers goes without saying. Mashrafe though isn't thinking about any of that.
“We will go one by one. Hopefully if we can play with our potential, we'll go through. At the moment I think we'll take match by match,” he exclaimed.
“I think back home the wicket favours the spinners and so we rely on them a lot but we have some really good quicks as well. They are still young, but they have the potential and hopefully they'll do their job. I feel that they're world class and they can bowl on any wicket,” he added.
Pacer Rubel Hossain, who has been battling his own personal issues lately, shared a similar sentiment. “This is a placid wicket but we have the bowling which can dominate here. We want to think big,” he said.
Players like Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah Riyad and Mashrafe significantly slimmed down in the recent past in a bid to be ready for the huge venues of the World Cup and the captain believed that the Tigers would put up a brilliant fielding effort as well.
As the match draws nearer, almost all of Bangladesh's players have exuded confidence regarding the match; the question however remains as to whether they can prove themselves in the middle.