World Cup 2019: Brendon McCullum responds after his prediction about Bangladesh goes wrong

Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum is facing a torrid time on Twitter after his prediction regarding Bangladesh’s fate in the ongoing World Cup went horribly wrong. Before the start of Bangladesh’s campaign, McCullum had given his prediction on how each team would fare in the tournament. The legendary skipper had predicted the semifinalists as well as how many games each team would win.

As far as Bangladesh were concerned, McCullum had predicted they would finish last in the ten-team tournament. McCullum, who led New Zealand to the final of the last World Cup, said that Bangladesh would only beat Sri Lanka and lose their other eight games. However, the Mashrafe Mortaza-led side proved him wrong in their very first outing by beating traditional heavyweights South Africa. The Tigers stunned the Proteas by 21 to launch their campaign in style.

It was a fine all round performance from Bangladesh. Put in to bat first, they scored their highest-ever total in ODIs – 330 for 6. Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan starred with the bat by scoring 50s. In reply, South Africa put up a good fight but eventually ended on 309 for 8 to suffer their second consecutive defeat of the tournament.

Following the victory, the Bangladesh fans took to Twitter to slam Brendon McCullum for his prediction. And now McCullum has responded to those trolls by thanking the feedback on his wrong prediction. At the same time, he also pointed out that at the end of the tournament his prediction would look alright, writing,  “Impressive performance from @BCBtigers to defeat @OfficialCSA. I expected SA to win but Bangladesh played well. In regards to my predictions, thanks for the feedback on getting this one wrong. Won’t be the last but average at the end will look alright I think. Can’t win em all”

Impressive performance from @BCBtigers to defeat @OfficialCSA. I expected SA to win but Bangladesh played well. In regards to my predictions, thanks for the feedback on getting this one wrong. Won’t be the last but average at the end will look alright I think. Can’t win em all ????

— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) June 2, 2019

Mortaza urges his teammates to be calm

Following the monumental win, Bangladesh skipper Mortaza has asked his teammates to stay calm and not get carried away. The veteran pacer is well aware of the task ahead and thus asked his players to not be ‘very excited right now’

“One other thing is that, it’s very important for our players to stay calm. We have just won one match, there are eight more to go. This win doesn’t take us anywhere in this tournament now. So, I don’t think we have to be very excited right now. There is still a long way to go,” Mortaza said.