Tigers at the centre of Clarke’s return
Tigers at the centre of Clarke’s return
Australia skipper Michael Clarke must have taken Bangladesh bowling coach Heath Streak's comments seriously. Streak, upon hearing that Clarke would face the Tigers in Bangladesh's second practice match, stated that the visitors would spread the field and let the injured skipper take as many 'cheeky singles' as he wanted.
As a result, when Clarke replaced his willow with a baseball bat during his net sessions and hammered the throw-downs with immense power at the Allan Border Ground yesterday, one could tell that the Australian was preparing himself for the challenge.
For Clarke, who is currently recovering from a hamstring injury, the match against Bangladesh will be a checkpoint for his fitness issues.
According to the player, batting with the baseball bat helped him middle the ball more frequently. According to the Australian media reports, Clarke's excitement level was evident and the drives were rocketing to the adjoining field. One of his lofted drives even hit Greg Chappell, whose attempt to get away from the ball went in vain.
For the Tigers, the match today will witness a change in atmosphere. Unlike the first practice match -- which they lost by five wickets -- the second has already generated wide-scale publicity due to the inclusion of the Australian skipper.
All rounder Shakib Al Hasan already went on air stating that he would not have any problem if Clarke scores against them in the practice match, as long as the Australian does not do much damage in their group stage game at the Gabba.
The Tigers, who will be playing without opener Tamim Iqbal, are not expected to change their stance. They are likely to go with the same aim that they had in the first match: look to provide all their players with maximum exposure.
In the first match, which saw them field 13 players, they called back Mominul Haque after the left-hander scored a half-century. The move was made to give an opportunity to the middle order. The bowlers were also given a maximum of seven overs each.
While the pacers were among the wickets, the spinners disappointed. Taijul Islam was taken apart for 56 in his seven overs, while Arafat Sunny failed to pick up a wicket.
Al-Amin Hossain, who did not feature in the first warm-up is expected to play today.
Tigers, who took the day off yesterday, will want to improve on their batting. On a comparatively small Allan Border Ground, they will need to score a lot more than 231, their total in the first warm-up, to be competitive.
By the looks of how Bangladesh are treating the warm-ups, a win may not necessarily be their main aim; but there's no doubt that a victory against a side that includes Australia's captain can take their motivational levels to an entirely different level.