Mortaza urges team to cope with qualification pressure

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said his team will have to deal with the pressure of trying to stay among the top eight ODI teams in the ICC rankings to ensure automatic qualification for the 2017 Champions Trophy. He said that though it could be a distraction, qualification would take Bangladesh cricket to a different level.

Bangladesh are No. 8 in the ICC ODI rankings on 88 points, same as West Indies who are seventh. Pakistan are ninth with 87 points, after losing 0-3 to Bangladesh in April. According to the ICC, the hosts England and the seven next highest-ranked sides as of September 30, 2015 will progress to the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Bangladesh need to win two of their remaining six matches - against India and South Africa - before September 30 to finish ahead of West Indies.

"It is quite natural to think about this type of equation," Mashrafe said. "But at some point this can become cause for extra pressure. We don't want the cricketers to think about it. We should take it match by match, which is more important for us.

"We are improving so we must handle this sort of pressure. It is going to be bigger in the future. We are hoping to see Bangladesh cricket take the next step which will be a lifetime achievement for us. But it is important to control such emotions. We faced similar pressure at the World Cup where even those who believed in us could only hope that we would reach the second round. So just like we did it there, we will take it match by match."

Bangladesh have beaten India just three times in 29 ODIs and all three occasions have been viewed as watershed moments. The 2004 victory was the only one in a bilateral series.

Mashrafe said Bangladesh had gained confidence after beating India in the 2007 World Cup but he wanted his team-mates to forget the loss in the 2015 World Cup quarterfinal in Melbourne, a game in which a controversial no-ball decision reprieved Rohit Sharma, who went on to make a century.

"I believe India are favourites but when we get on the field we don't think who is favourite or who is not. After the 2007 World Cup, we started to believe that we can beat any team. We never lost our mental strength despite losing matches. Of course if we are playing against a higher-ranked team they will be the favourites but we don't think that we can't beat them.

"I don't think anyone will think about what happened in a match three-four months ago. People will remember such things but as cricketers we shouldn't be thinking about such things. It is hard to control people's emotions but I would request them to keep cricket in its place."

During the quarterfinal, Rubel Hossain had also celebrated excessively after dismissing Virat Kohli, and the two had also had a go at each other during the opening game of the 2011 World Cup in Mirpur. Mashrafe said as long as the exchanges remained civil and helped his team, he wouldn't mind.

"If his madness is helpful, then I don't mind it. I obviously wouldn't want any personal attacks. But I don't see anything between Rubel and Kohli. I think we create such problems by asking these questions. It is better to avoid such questions. We shake hands at the end of the match. Rubel and Virat don't have a problem."

Mashrafe wanted his team to believe that they are on par with the top teams in the world. "Bangladesh is one of the teams doing well in ODIs right now apart from Australia, England, India and New Zealand. I have told the boys to look at the statistics that we are not far behind any of these teams. Everyone believes in themselves. We have to show it in the field, but this is no pressure," Mashrafe said.