CT 2017: Bangladesh taking warm-up fixture against India very seriously

Team Bangladesh had a very shocking defeat against Pakistan in their first warm-up game recently. Despite having the score as high as 341 on the board, the team succumbed to a 2-wicket defeat after Fahim Ashraf’s late blitz sealed the game for Pakistan. The Bangla tigers would definitely be a hurt camp at the moment. Their next assignment is against India in their second warm-up fixture.

While many would see it as a mere practice game, the team Bangladesh sees it as their last opportunity to get their permutations and combinations right ahead of the tournament proper. They are set to lock horns with England in the tournament opener on June 1. The head coach of the Bangladeshi team had remarked that the game will only be a practice game and the team is quite easy going into the fixture.

Deep down somewhere, even he knew that the match matters a lot for their camp. Akram Khan, the chairman of BCB’s cricket operations, was more direct in quoting the importance of the warm-up match against India. He noted that the Indian team is the best in the world at the moment. Arguably the most settled team, India, have a very packed schedule and hence Bangladesh do not play them too often.

India – The best team

Now that they have the opportunity, they will want to make the most out of it. If they manage to beat India in the warm-up match, they can take the confidence into the tournament proper.

“It’s an opportunity for us to play against the best team. They have got the most compact batting; their bowling has also got depth and variation. It will be an occasion for our bowlers to test their skills and for our batsmen to score runs against a quality attack. Besides, India are a team so busy it is hard for any team to play against them frequently. And if we can do well in that game it will give us a world of confidence for the opening game against England,” quoted Akram Khan.

The last time the two sides had met in an ICC event, it was India who beat Bangladesh in the ICC World T20 game at Bengaluru in a last ball thriller.

Tamim Iqbal unlikely?

According to The Daily Star, There is a possibility for the left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman to play today’s warm-up game. The Fizz and Rubel Hossain bowled during an intense net session close to the centre wicket at The Oval yesterday. Tamim Iqbal is doubtful for the match because of a niggle. However, he attended the practice session a bat late yesterday.