'Have the team to win'

The last time Zimbabwe won an ODI against Bangladesh was in May 2013, and the last time they beat the Tigers in an ODI in Bangladesh was in December 2010. Having lost the last 10 contests between the sides and coming off a winless tour of South Africa, it may seem that there is little reason for Zimbabwe skipper Hamilton Masakadza to be optimistic.

However, the Zimbabwe team were in high spirits as they had their first practice session of the tour at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday, ahead of the three-match ODI series set to start next Sunday.

"It is a very important series. We've played a lot against each other; it's always been competitive and I expect it to be competitive this time around as well," Masakdza said.

A cricketing culture perennially in turmoil because of conflict between the board and the players, Zimbabwe do have the benefit this time of having a lot of players back in their ranks, including star all-rounder Sikandar Raza, who was out of the picture for a while because of a contract dispute.

"[Raza is] obviously a big inclusion to the team. It adds a lot of value. [He] Bowls and bats and is also a very good fielder."

One other thing in their favour will be that Bangladesh have to play without two of their biggest stalwarts in Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, both of whom will miss the series due to injury.

"Obviously those are two very big players for Bangladesh who have performed for them for quite a long time," Masakadza said. "But Bangladesh have a lot of players; they've obviously got a few replacements waiting, so I don't think it will take too much out of them."

“I believe we have the personnel to do the job. We've got good youngsters that are coming through and good experience. I think we definitely have the team to be able to win games here."