If you are a 90’s kid and had a computer at home, you must have come across the famous video game of the millennial era, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Maybe you played this game on a rainy morning when you did not have to go to school because of the weather. Or perhaps on a chilly December morning after the annual school exams were over, when there were no worries about studying.
Fast forward to the Gen Z era of meme culture. You may have come across a famous one featuring Carl Johnson, aka CJ, from GTA: San Andreas, where a screenshot of his from the game shows the text: “Ah sh**, here we go again.”
The Bangladesh cricket team shares some similarities with CJ. Both often find themselves in trouble. Especially In multinational tournaments such as the World Cup or Asia Cup, Bangladesh frequently end up in situations where they must rely on calculations to qualify. In recent years, this has happened on multiple occasions.
In the ongoing Asia Cup in the UAE, despite opening their campaign against Hong Kong with a commanding seven-wicket win, Bangladesh are on the verge of elimination from the group stage. They lost their second match against Sri Lanka after scoring 139/5, with the Lankans claiming a six-wicket victory.
Sri Lanka’s net run rate stood at 2.595 after winning with 32 balls to spare. Group B toppers Afghanistan have a net run rate of 4.700 in their favour. After the loss to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh’s net run rate dropped to -0.650 from 1.001
However, before considering equations and all possible scenarios for qualification to the Super Four, Bangladesh first need to win their match against Afghanistan on Tuesday. The story does not end there. If they manage to beat Afghanistan, they must also hope that Sri Lanka defeats the same side, while ensuring that Sri Lanka first beat Hong Kong.
If Bangladesh fail to win against Afghanistan, that would mark the end of the Asia Cup for Litton Das and his team.
