South African cricketers arrive at Dhaka

A 25-member South African contingent landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport today evening. The contingent includes the 14-member T20I squad and eleven other members from their team management.

The visitors will face Bangladesh in two T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests. The tour will kick-start with two T20Is scheduled to take place on July 5 and July 7.

The South Africans will attend their first practice session tomorrow afternoon at the Mirpur stadium’s National Cricket Academy Ground. After two days of practice, the visitors will take on BCB XI in a 20 over practice match at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in fatullah on July 3.

This is South Africa’s first tour ever since their semi-final exit in the World Cup earlier this year. Prior to their arrival in Dhaka, their T20I skipper Faf du Plessis  hoped that the youngsters who joined the squad ever since the mega event, would prove their point in this tour.  

"This is exciting; it's nice to have young guys coming in. It's almost like the younger the guys are, the more energy they bring to the squad,”du Plessis had said.

The three ODIs will take place on July 10, 12 and 15. While the first two are scheduled to take place in Mirpur, the final ODI will be played at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.

The two-match Test series will begin after Eid with Hashim Amla and Mushfiqur Rahim taking over their respective sides. The first Test will take place in Chittagong while the second and final Test will be played in Mirpur.

Meanwhile, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and his charges played a practice match at Mirpur today afternoon. The players who took part in the game were members of the national side and the High Performance Unit.

While the likes of Mushfiqur Rahim, Rubel Hossain and Soumya Sarker played in Mashrafe’s team, Tamim Iqbal, Litton Das and a host of other national players played under Shakib Al Hasan.

Bangladesh’s T20I team will be submitted to the board today evening. It was learnt that the selection committee has pondered quite a bit with regards to their spin options.

The likes of Shohag Gazi and Jubair Hossain, who played today’s practice match, were reportedly discussed.

Having beaten Pakistan and India already this year, the Tigers are on a roll. They have the fourth best win percentage in 2015 and will hope to continue their good run.

However, they will have to battle hard since World Cup semi-finalists South Africa, have a dominant record against the Tigers.