‘Confident that Tigers will get into a good shape’
Following a four-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in the first official practise game on Tuesday, Bangladesh will be looking to rectify their mistakes and get into the groove when they take on Ireland in the second and final warm-up game today ahead of the qualifier round of the ICC World T20.
The match will begin at 12:00pm (BST) at Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi -- the same where the first warm-up game was played.
Bangladesh posted 147 for seven against Sri Lanka. However, courtesy of Avishka Fernando's unbeaten fifty, the Lankans managed to chase down the total with an over to spare.
Tigers' head coach Russell Domingo will surely be expecting the batters to step up before the mega event as apart from Soumya Sarkar, who scored a 26-ball 34, none of the other Bangladesh batsmen were able to make an impact in their game against the Lankans.
According to chief selector Minhajul Abedin, it will take some time for the players to adjust as they are frequently moving from one city to another.
"The pitch here at home was a bit slow and as the players are continuously on the move from one city to another, it will take some time for them to adjust. It is not just about the openers. In shorter formats, every single batsman in the side needs to step up and give their best on the given day," Minhajul told the media yesterday.
Bangladesh, however, at one point were in a good position in their previous game. Sri Lanka were struggling at 75 for six inside eleven overs before Avishka Fernando and Chamika Karunaratne added a match-winning unbeaten 72-run eighth-wicket stand to take the game away from the Tigers.
According to Minhajul there are a lot of things that can be addressed and rectified from the defeat against Sri Lanka.
"There will be ups and downs in practise games as you try and experiment many things through these matches in order to evaluate the batting, bowling and fielding department. Everyone is preparing themselves and it was a good opportunity for all the players to play a few back-to-back games.
"We are very confident and the team is expected to get into a good shape ahead of the World Cup. We still have a game to play and we hope to start our World Cup mission on a positive note," he said.
Meanwhile, skipper Mahmudullah Riyad, who was rested in the unofficial warm-up game against Oman A and also in the following game against Sri Lanka due to slight back pain, is expected to be available from the first qualifier game against Scotland on October 17.