Tigers depart today for 'pressure' series

The Tigers' training on the eve of their departure for Zimbabwe was officially called off, but skipper Mushfiqur Rahim chose the off day as an opportunity to don his Manchester United T-shirt and go for some batting practice at the Mirpur nets yesterday. PHOTO: STAR

The Bangladesh cricket team will fly for Zimbabwe this evening with a mission to continue playing consistent cricket abroad.
Mushfiqur Rahim's men will be looking to erase their forlorn memories against their Southern African rival – their last trip in August 2011 saw them losing the one-off Test by 130 runs at the Harare  Club ground.
The Tigers, then led by Shakib Al Hasan, also lost the first three ODIs at Harare on way to suffering a 3-2 defeat. The aftermath of that fateful tour was that Shakib was removed from the hot seat along with deputy Tamim Iqbal.
It would therefore be a challenge for the Tigers to set the record straight when they play both Test matches in the coming series at the same Harare Sports Club ground. Bangladesh will go into the main battle on April 17 without playing any practice matches on the demanding trip but there was no shortage of encouragement for Mushfiqur's men after the way they played against Sri Lanka on their home soil in the month-long tour in March.
Bangladesh overcame all the injury problems to usher a new dawn in the island by drawing their first Test against the hosts before sharing an ODI series for the first time by winning their first match on Sri Lankan soil. The tour also saw the first Test double-century by a Bangladeshi batsman when Mushfiqur achieved the mark in the first Test. Over the last few months the captain repeatedly stressed that their main goal is to play consistent cricket on foreign soil.
The squad has been bolstered by the return of star all-rounder Shakib, who missed the Sri Lanka tour due to a shin bone injury. Shahriar Nafees's return is also welcome news, as is the availability of the first-choice spin attack as left-arm spinner Enamul Haque has recovered from injury.
Problems however remain with the pace attack as they are missing their front-line pacers in Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shafiul Islam and Nazmul Hossain through injury. Mushfiqur has to rely on his traditional bowling strength in spin but Shakib is unlikely to bowl in the first Test. Left-handed opener Tamim also has a fifty-fifty chance of playing the first Test.
Playing Zimbabwe in any series carries an extra bit of pressure for the Tigers, a fact that all-rounder Nasir Hossain admitted. “I think they are not easy opponents in their home conditions. We are going to face hard competition from them but we are confident,” said Nasir.
“There is nothing to lose for us when we play against any top side in the world but that is not the case when we play against Zimbabwe. There is some pressure against Zimbabwe because we don't want to lose against them. We need to overcome this expectation so that we can play our normal game,” he added.
The team has a stop-over in Dubai and will reach the Zimbabwean capital on April 11 and get five days to acclimatise with the conditions. The second Test will start from April 25 in Harare.
The Tigers will play the three-match ODI series and two-match T20I series in their favoured Zimbabwean venue of Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.