Tigers open against Zim today
Bangladesh take on Zimbabwe in the opening match of the Grameenphone Tri-Nation Cup at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur today.
The match will be telecast live on Bangladesh Television from 9.o0am.
The Tigers' team management have decided to leave out rookie paceman Rubel Hossain, left-arm spinner Enamul Haque while naming Mahmudullah Riyad as the likely twelfth man. This would mean Bangladesh will be going with three paceman including Nazmul Hossain, who last played in a one-dayer in Australia last year.
Shakib Al Hasan, Mehrab Hossain and Nayeem Islam will make up the spin trio on a wicket expected to offer assistance to the slow bowlers.
Bangladesh were unimpressive in the second Test against Sri Lanka and the preceding one-day series against South Africa but the Tigers have won one one-dayer against New Zealand last October in Mirpur when all seemed lost to the ICL exodus.
The visitors, who beat GP-BCB National Cricket Academy by 195 runs in the three-day practice match in Bogra two days ago, will have the likes of Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu and Raymond Price to bank on but their recent record against the Tigers is very poor.
In the last home series, Bangladesh whitewashed Zimbabwe 5-0 in 2006 before winning 3-1 in Zimbabwe including an exciting one-wicket win in the last game between the two sides. But overall, the visitors have a 18-15 advantage over the Tigers in all one-dayers.
Sri Lanka -- the other team in the tournament -- take on Zimbabwe in the second match of the tournament on January 12.
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