On our day we can do anything: Mortaza

“It's been 24 months. I seriously don't think that anyone is thinking about that game. We've had so many matches against each other since then, and we are certainly not going out to prove a point to anyone. We just want to play good cricket as a side. Our opposition could be anyone. We're not really thinking about what's happened in the past or things that go on at the international level.” – That was Virat Kohli on Wednesday, ahead of India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2017 semi-final against Bangladesh.

The reference was to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 quarter-final against the same opponent, where there was much heartburn after what Bangladesh thought was a wrong no-ball call in favour of Rohit Sharma when he was caught on 90 in the deep. Rohit made 137 eventually, adding 47 more to his total. India, though, won the match by a whopping 109 runs, but that still didn’t alleviate Bangladesh’s feeling of being hard done by.

That angst might remain among fans, but to Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladesh captain, Kohli’s thoughts were bang on the money. “After that we played, I think – two T20Is, three T20Is actually, and three ODIs. We obviously forgot it. It is 24 months, exactly what Virat said, and tomorrow is going to be a new match. So our concentration and our thinking is about tomorrow's match.”

Bangladesh is on the cusp of its biggest limited-overs match in history, never having got to the semi-finals of an ICC event before. It’s a rise that began with that same World Cup, where it beat England in the league stage.

“Winning against England helped us a lot, that we go through to the quarter-finals,” said Mortaza. “The team was boosted up, and after that beating Pakistan and India and South Africa – yes, it was at home – but no one expected us to beat those sort of teams wherever we played. But I think this team has changed. Players can play with freedom and not hold themselves back. The coaches and management have also supported the players a lot, backed them and not dropped them. Those sort of things actually change teams.

“I know that on our day we can do anything, to be honest. We are the team that is trying to improve ourselves a lot. We don't know what is going to be the result, but once you can play at your best, you know that you are going to play at your best and things can change. So even if we look at the last match, when Ross (Taylor) and (Kane) Williamson batted really well, but we come back strongly. That’s the thing, about never giving up on the ground.”

Mortaza acknowledged that his side had gained more respect with its performances, but added a caveat. “Look, it depends from man to man who is respecting you and who is not,” he reflected. “But as a team we are trying to improve our cricket. As a team the last two-three years we are changing things a lot, especially in the dressing room and behaviour on the ground. So we are trying our best.”

While aware that the big match would bring its share of pressure, Mortaza said that the key to doing well was not treating the match as a semi-final, but as a regular affair, and held that the pressure would be more on India given the expectations on it.

“We're playing for the first time in our life in a semi-final, that is also a fact,” he acknowledged. “If it's pressure, I think India got more pressure than us because their huge population is there, and people love cricket in India a lot. Even in Bangladesh too. Both teams have a lot of expectations. But at the end of the day, it's a cricket game, so whoever plays well, they'll win. But both teams will try their best. I just told the team that if you take it as a semi-final, the pressure will be very hard, but if you think it's just another match the pressure will become a lot easier to deal with.”

One instance of pressure and not keeping emotions in check coming together might still haunt Bangladesh, when it needed two runs from three balls but contrived to lose by a run in the ICC World Twenty20 2016. “Obviously we were disappointed, especially in the World T20 where we couldn't go through,” admitted Mortaza. “Three balls, needed two runs, and our best two batsmen at the wicket. It happens sometimes in cricket, but we have moved on from it, and now we have to think that tomorrow we will play at our best. We can't just think about what happened in the last two matches coming into the ground, because it will put some more pressure on us.”