Tigers leave in high spirits
A majority of the national players are looking forward to regaining form in the upcoming West Indies series. While a number of players -- before the team started their journey towards Grenada yesterday -- expected it to be a 'difficult' series, they hope to rise to the occasion.
Anamul Haque Bijoy, one of the few players in form, said that he was looking forward to play in a region which produced legendary cricketers.
“For me this will be the first time that I am going to the West Indies. To be able to play where the likes of Brian Lara, Viv Richards and Chris Gayle have come from is in itself an honour. It's a big deal for me and I really want to do well,” said Bijoy at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday.
“It will be a difficult series, but I am sure everyone will try their best to forget the series of defeats that we went through and start afresh,” he added.
Bangladesh's newly appointed bowling coach Heath Streak hopes that the pacers can make an impact.
“This is our best team and we will give it all we have. It will be a big deal if we can win. The fast bowlers have been performing well and I am hoping they can make an impact there,” said Streak.
The three ODIs will be played on wickets which are expected to help spinners as much as the pacers. At the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada for instance, part-time off-spinner Chris Gayle is the second highest wicket-taker, behind medium-pacer Dwayne Bravo, with an average of 23.63. Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan has an astounding average of 7.28, picking up seven wickets in 15 overs.
The Warner Park at St Kitts, where the third ODI and the only T20I will be played also seems to be a wicket that generally supports the spinners. The highest wicket takers on that ground are spinners Sunil Narine and Brad Hogg.
Slow left-armer Abdur Razzak, however, was uncertain about the kind of conditions that the Tigers will encounter.
“When I played there in 2007 the conditions were different. And again in 2009 it was something else. So it's difficult to say how the conditions will be,” said Razzak.
Whatever the conditions may be, there seems to be no lack of confidence when it comes to young pacer Taskin Ahmed.
Raring to have a dig at the West Indian batsmen in their own den, Taskin hopes to be at his aggressive best in the Caribbean. “No matter what kind of wicket I get, I am going to bowl those bouncers,” remarked the 19-year-old.
Batsman Nasir Hossain also spoke to the media yesterday. The middle-order batsman, who has failed to carry on after getting a number of starts this year, hopes to revive his form.
Bangladesh will play their first ODI on August 20. The second and third ODIs will take place on Augsut 22 and 25 respectively. Before the ODI series begins, they will play a one-day match on August 17. The two-match Test series begins on September 5.
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