T20 World Cup 2022: Is Shakib Al Hasan's admission of Indian favourites a mind game or realism?

"I think it will be a good game. India is the favourite heading into the match. They have come here to win the World Cup; we are not here to win the World Cup," he said in the pre-match press conference. 

"You can understand the situation. If we win against India, it will be upset and we will try out best to upset India." 

Naturally, his statements have gotten mixed reactions from the cricketing fanbase. Some believe he shouldn't be as damaging and should project more confidence. 

After all, how will the team believe in beating India if their captain publicly admits that India is the favourites and that a Bangladesh win will be upset? 

It also ignores that, as things stand, India and Bangladesh are levels on points. India started the tournament with wins against Pakistan and Netherlands before losing to South Africa; Bangladesh began with a win against the Netherlands, lost to South Africa then beat Zimbabwe. 

So as of now, both teams are on four points – and, on paper at least, both have the same chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. 

There's also a school of thought that Shakib Al Hasan is doing this as a deception. It is a well-known public ploy to downplay oneself and build up the opposition. 

After all, it removes any public pressure from the team and puts it back on the opposition. However, this theory seems unlikely. 

Anyone who's seen Shakib Al Hasan in the public eye knows that he is a straightforward character who isn't afraid to call it as he sees it. 

This player once kicked the stumps down when an umpiring decision went against him. And the only reason he's captain right now is that the team is hugely in transition. 

Indeed, in this case, the most straightforward and correct course of action would be to take Shakib Al Hasan's words at face value, simply because it reflects Bangladesh's status in world cricket right now. 

They're no longer the plucky underdogs who could upset anyone on a given day; they're a team needing to rebuild. 

And their recent form in multi-nation tournaments has been far from positive. They failed to win a single match in the 2021 T20 World Cup; the same fate befell them in the 2022 Asia Cup. 

To make things worse, the team failed to win any of their games in the tri-series against New Zealand, and Pakistan held just before the World Cup. 

And yes, they've won two games in this tournament – but they were close encounters against Netherlands and Zimbabwe. The one time they came up against a top side in South Africa, they were trounced. 

Thus, Shakib Al Hasan's admission is just a case of him calling it as he sees it. It is, truth be told, how most fans see it too – even if they would never admit it.