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Tigers enjoy day of respite

BlSHWAJIT ROY from Kandy
The Tigers reached hill capital Kandy on Monday. It was just a three-and-a-half hours' journey from Colombo to reach the Mahaweli Reach Hotel: the signature resort of the city. It was not a long or tiresome journey for the Tigers but still everybody was tired mainly because they boarded the bus soon after the end of their second and last warmup match against Ireland at the Moors Sports Club ground. The hectic schedule was why the Tigers were given the chance to keep away from cricket yesterday, as it was a rest day for them. Mushfiqur Rahim's men however enjoyed the day engaged in
different activities. Most of the players spent their time playing indoor games like chess, carrom, table tennis and billiard in the hotel in the morning session where there was no shortage of excitement when someone won a game.
There was no sign of tiredness. A few enjoyed themselves in the river cruise in the Mahaweli Reach River after the lunch while someone like opener Tamim Iqbal preferred to rest in his room. The players looked relaxed as pace spearhead Mashrafe Bin Mortaza also said that they needed this break after the gruelling last few days.
“We needed this break and it will help us to recharge before the first group match against New Zealand. We are going to really
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use the next two days before the match, so the break is important," said Mashrafe with a smile.
But it was not fully possible for them to keep away from talking about cricket as they had to talk to the media during the break and it was Mashrafe's turn yesterday to talk about their preparation and chances in the ICC World Twenty20.
The “Narail Express" talked about the importance of the first match against New Zealand on September21.
“Probably it is the most important game for us. Over the last few months all our preparations have been centred on the two group matches and this one in particular. We have played a good number of Twenty20s and there have been a lot of positives that have come out. I firmly believe that if we execute our plans right and every player plays at least between 70 to 80 percent of their capability then we will be a very tough opposition to beat,” opined Mashrafe adding that New Zealand always do well and are formidable in world tournaments.
Describing the team as a settled one, the experienced campaigner however said that it would have been great for
them if they could play against some tough opponents over the last six months.
"Obviously, if you consider the last practice match against Ireland then I would say it was very disappointing to lose. However, that is a wakeup call and a chance for us to fine tune the areas where we need improvement. Maybe the opposition we faced were not close to the standards of New Zealand or Pakistan but the good thing is that we have had excellent match practice over the last