Bangladesh captain Shakib-al Hasan, whose team is still very much in the race to book a semi-finals berth in the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia, has raised eyebrows by saying that his side is not in the competition to win it.

Asked what Bangladesh’s approach would be in their game against India on Wednesday, after beating the Netherlands and Zimbabwe, Shakib said at a news conference in Adelaide: “We want to play well in the next two matches (against India and Pakistan), so if we can win one of them, it will count as an upset.

“We will be happy to inflict that upset. Both teams, on paper, are better than us. If we play well, if it is our day, why can’t we win? We have seen Ireland beat England, and Zimbabwe beat Pakistan in this World Cup. A similar result will definitely make us happy.

“As I said in Bangla before, India is the favourite team, they came here to win the World Cup. We are not favourites, we didn’t come here to win the World Cup. We know very well that if we win against India, it will be called an upset. We will try to play our best cricket.”

Shakib might have wished to sound self-effacing, but during a World Cup, the statement, coming from a captain, has baffled cricket lovers.

“Last thing a captain should say. That too an Intlcaptain with 390+ games,” Fantasy Cricket Pro (VirenHemrajani) wrote on Twitter. “Why such low aim? EvenNamibia and Hong Kong had higher ambitions..,” Twitter user Shree posted.

India and Bangladesh both have four points in Group 2 right now, and a victory would increase their chances of advancing to the semi-finals.

India have a better head-to-head record in T20Is, having won 10 T20Is and lost only one against Bangladesh. Also, India have had greater experience of playing at the AdelaideOval, having turned out here29 times compared to Bangladesh’s one.