Scotland coach Shane Burger feels his team’s batting experience and bowling depth will allow them to compete in the opening round of the T20 World Cup against Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, and Oman.
Shane Burger and his team face Bangladesh in their first T20 World Cup match, seeking to continue on a hot streak that has seen them win six of their seven games since arriving in the Middle East last month. Granted, some of those matches were friendly warm-ups, and a few others were played over 50 overs, but there’s no denying that victories boost a team’s morale and confidence.
Scotland coach Shane Burger on Bangladesh
Given the whims of the shortest format, Shane Burger believes Kyle Coetzer’s squad can challenge any team in the tournament if they reach their best.
“We know we can catch any team off guard if we play our best cricket, it is as simple as that. The shortest format does bring every team closer together. We know what we have in the tank. If we deliver our best cricket, we can beat any team, whether that’s Bangladesh, Oman or Papua New Guinea”, he said.
“We don’t see Bangladesh being anywhere higher than PNG or Oman in terms of these group games. We know every single team is going to come at us. We will be their biggest game. We are prepped and ready. The matches against Netherlands and Namibia would give us fantastic momentum going into our first World Cup game against a quality team like Bangladesh. It has allowed us to feel pressure. It has allowed us to win big moments. We have made mistakes but we also played some really good cricket over the past month”, he added.
“In a nutshell, come Sunday, those performances in the past won’t really make a huge difference. It depends what we do on the day. We have to make sure we are in the present, and put in our best performance. We can only focus on the Scotland way, and back each and every individual to bring out the best performance on the day”, he concluded.
Burger’s optimism is bolstered by Scotland’s warm-up wins against the Netherlands and Namibia last week, and despite the fact that they haven’t played many T20Is this year, Burger believes they are peaking at the perfect moment.
