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InDepth headlines national business sports cricket regional entertainment technology world travel autos health | in-depth coverage > Asia Cup 2004 > Dethroned Pakistan has nothing at stake against Bangladesh 17.52 IST 28th July 2004 By IndiaExpress Bureau A crestfallen Pakistan would have to endure the agony of going through their motions against minnows Bangladesh in what is now an inconsequential Super League match of the Asia Cup cricket tournament on Thursday. Defending champions Pakistan's failure to deprive India of a vital bonus point in the Super League match has cost them a place in the final, a huge blow for a team hoping to defend their title. Inzamam-ul Haq and his men, who once again proved that they are an unpredictable team, will be ruing their dismal performance in their opening Super League encounter on Wednesday when the hosts humiliated them and collected the maximum six points. Had they managed to deny the bonus points to Sri Lanka and India they could have hoped to thrash lowly Bangladesh to ensure a place in the final. But now all that the new Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer can do is to inspire his boys to end the tournament on a winning note. After failing to deny India the crucial bonus point on Sunday night, Woolmer knew that Pakistan was in trouble and wasted no time in expressing his displeasure over the bonus points system in One-Day International tournaments and found it "flawed". "The issue of bonus points should be decided within the difference of 20-30 runs only. It is not fair when a side wins by 60 runs but is still not good enough for a bonus point," he said. But looking back at his team's performance in their first tournament after the debacle to India in the historic series in April-May, captain Inzamam-ul-Haq can draw comfort from the superb performance of young Shoaib Malik. The 22-year-old all-rounder, who came into the tournament in the shadows of his more famous compatriots, was the find of the tournament for Pakistan after slamming two centuries including a career-best 143 against India. Coming in at No 3, Malik lived up to the faith of his captain to record his second hundred in the competition following his 118 against Hong Kong in the league stage. Pakistan has also been benefited by the tactical shrewdness of new coach Woolmer as they successfully checked the famed Indian batting line-up with innovative field placings and controlled aggression. Woolmer would be looking for more experiments against Bangladesh on Thursday as the defending champions wind up their Asia Cup campaign. Bangladesh, on the other hand, will be playing for pride and will be more than satisfied if they can put up a tough challenge against their more famed opponents. Although they have shown some improvement in recent times, they still lack the quality to be able to put it across stronger teams. in-depth coverage > Asia Cup 2004 > |
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