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NEW DELHI: Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons has sent a strong message ahead of Wednesday’s Asia Cup Super Fours showdown against reigning world champions India, insisting that no team, including his ‘Tigers’, should be intimidated by the star-studded opposition.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“Every team has the ability to beat India,” said Simmons, who played for the West Indies in the late 1980s and ’90s. “The game is played on the day. It’s not what India has done before. It’s what happens on Wednesday. It’s what happens during that three and a half hour period. We will try to play as best as we can and hope to find chinks in India’s armoury. That’s the way we win games.”Bangladesh enter the clash on the back of a morale-boosting victory over Sri Lanka in their first Super Fours match, a rare highlight in a format where they have historically struggled. Simmons wants his team to soak in the electric atmosphere at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, remain focused, and enjoy the challenge.
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“Every game, especially games involving India, have a hype because they’re the number one T20 team in the world. There must be a hype. We’re just going to ride on the hype. We’re going to enjoy the moment and enjoy the game,” he said.Assessing conditions, Simmons described the Dubai track as excellent for batting, downplaying the impact of the toss. “I didn’t see much of a difference in the wicket over the 40 overs. The wicket was really good to bat. Bowlers had to bowl properly. I don’t think the toss has that much of an effect,” he said.
Acknowledging the challenges of back-to-back T20 games in the September heat, Simmons praised his squad’s preparation. “It is extremely difficult to play back-to-back T20 matches, back-to-back ODIs. But again we are prepared, we have trained really hard. I think the guys are fit enough to handle it,” he added.On strategy, Simmons emphasised consistency over risk-taking in T20 cricket. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve tried to make sure that this is the way we want to play. And we’ve picked the correct players to play that way. And so far, it’s benefitted us.”Even amidst intense scrutiny and criticism from passionate Bangladeshi fans, Simmons remains unshaken. “As long as I’m confident and my staff and myself, including the captain, are confident in what we’re doing, then criticism is like water off a duck’s back,” he concluded.
