Bangladesh Don’t Want to Be the Backup Team Any More
Bangladesh’s Asian Champions Trophy ended the way most people expected: last place, one point, four defeats and a draw. But the interesting part isn’t the table. It’s what the team say they’re trying to become, because Bangladesh are tired of being the side tournaments call when somebody else pulls out.
They got into this ACT because Pakistan declined India’s invitation, and they’ve been the late replacement before, at the Asia Cup too. That’s the reputation coach Gerhard Rach is trying to kill. Rach, who briefly coached India back in 2004, has set the immediate target: build a competitive squad for next year’s Nations Cup, the tournament that can open the door to the FIH Pro League and, with it, regular games against better opposition. The longer goal, in his words, is to reach the top six in Asia and lift the ranking to sixth. Right now they’re 28th in the world.
Captain Ashraful Islam is more patient, and probably more realistic. He’s played 106 matches for Bangladesh and scored 82 goals, so he knows exactly where the team stand. “Maybe we need one or two more years because we are still learning and we haven’t played so many warm-up matches,” he said. “If we play more matches we will get more confidence.” He still believes in the big targets, a World Cup, even the 2028 Olympics through qualification, but he’s honest that the team aren’t there yet.
The ACT gave them something to build on, even in defeat. Monday’s 1-1 draw with China was their first point of the tournament, and on Wednesday they get China again, this time for fifth place in Mohali. Win that, and they don’t finish last. Lose it, and the week ends with one point and a familiar feeling.
That’s why Wednesday matters more for Bangladesh than it looks. Fifth place won’t change their ranking overnight. But a win, any win, against a team they just drew with, is the difference between a tournament where they learned lessons and a tournament where they actually took something home. Rach wants a Nations Cup team. Ashraful wants more matches and more belief. Wednesday is where both of those things start.
