Mashrafe wants sporting wickets
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza hoped that the Bangladesh Cricket League's maiden limited-over venture, which begins today, would be played on sporting wickets. Bangladesh's domestic tournaments have traditionally been played on wickets which have been termed by many players as 'dead'. The slow and low wickets have induced complaints from a number of pace bowlers over the years.
It was the reason why issues with regards to Bangladesh's ability to adjust to the conditions in Australia and New Zealand were raised prior to the World Cup.
Mashrafe urged the concerned authorities to change the scenario, for the betterment of the game. “Playing on sporting wickets is good because when we go outside; it helps. I have seen the wicket here [at Mirpur] and it has a bit of grass on it. I believe it will be sporting,” said Mashrafe during the pre-tournament press conference at Mirpur yesterday.
“We can play well on sporting wickets and we proved that during the World Cup. We are in good form. I think in order to hold on to that form we should continue playing on sporting wickets,” he added.
The 31-year-old believed that taking part in the BCL would be a good way to get re-accustomed to the home conditions.
“ The last four to five months, we kept practicing with the Australian conditions in mind. But now this is a home series so I think this tournament will be good for us,” he said.
When asked if the inclusion of an extra tournament made their schedule a lot more hectic, Mashrafe said, “Maybe if we had gotten a few more days off it would have been a good thing. After all we had to travel a lot in Australia and New Zealand. It was a hectic tour. But the Pakistan series is already knocking at the door and we need to get ready for that. And this tournament will help us do that.
“ We have all been practicing the last few days, because we know it will be really difficult to just get on the field and start playing the tournament, so that's a good thing,” said the skipper.
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