Key is to rest players in Ireland: Tamim

Before going to England for the World Cup, Bangladesh will be playing a tri-nation series in Ireland from May 7 and Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal thought that it would be of paramount importance to rest some players in Ireland so close to the showpiece event.

Bangladesh are set to play a minimum of four matches and a maximum of five if the Tigers can make it to the final in Ireland on May 17. Bangladesh will then head to England for the World Cup and with the round-robin format -- each of the 10 teams playing against each other once -- Bangladesh have a very hectic schedule ahead.

Left-handed opener Tamim said that it would be very important for the team management to shuffle players in order to keep everyone fresh and ready for the World Cup.

"If we talk about the negatives, then there is only one negative part. And that is that we might be playing about 13-14 matches over just a month and a half. This is the only negative point.

"We don't get to play many matches in those conditions [in Ireland]. I think that the key will be to rest people whenever anyone needs rest. As we all know, in the World Cup we cannot afford to rest. In Ireland, we have the chance to play five matches and it will be very important to change players in one or two matches there to keep everyone fresh," Tamim said in Mirpur on Wednesday.