Tigers’ final warm-up today
After their first World Cup warm-up game against Pakistan on Sunday was washed out due to rain, the Bangladesh squad practised under bright sunshine yesterday at Cardiff’s Swalec Stadium. With just five days to go till Bangladesh start their World Cup campaign with their opening match against South Africa on June 2, the Tigers will have a last shot to finalise the team combination and possible strategies when they take on India in their final warm-up game here today.
The match is set to start at 10:30 am local time and each side can use all the players in their squad, with a maximum of 11 allowed to bat.
Although weather forecasts can never be seen as ironclad, especially in the United Kingdom, the prediction for tomorrow is a promising one as after a cloudy start, it is expected to be sunny for much of the rest of the day. As head coach Steve Rhodes said after the match against Pakistan was washed out, there will be no cause to panic even if the match against India suffers a similar fate.
Bangladesh have been primed for action since their unbeaten run to the tri-nation trophy earlier this month -- their maiden ODI multi-team triumph -- and their practice sessions also appear to have been fruitful so far.
Facing India, however, will be a valuable exercise as playing against arguably the best team in the world will give the Tigers a good idea of where they stand. Although young all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin said yesterday that doing well today will stand them in good stead for the World Cup match against the same opposition near the end of the tournament, it is unlikely that a defeat would hurt the side’s confidence too much. Practice matches, especially before big tournaments, are more about seeing which players are in form and getting some match practice in the prevailing conditions.
In that sense, the match is likely to be very important for pacers Saifuddin, Rubel Hossain and batsmen Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain and Liton Das -- players who are not automatic picks in the playing eleven.
It will also be interesting to see if Mahmudullah Riyad, if he plays, has recovered enough from a shoulder injury to bowl his useful, part-time off-spin as that will have a bearing on possible team combinations.
But at the end of today, rain, win or loss, Bangladesh can be expected to emerge from the match undiminished as their preparations have been pretty satisfactory so far.