The Bangladesh cricket team left Dhaka yesterday for Zimbabwe with the hope of continuing their recent supremacy over the hosts.
Prior to their departure captain Shakib Al Hasan and his deputy Tamim Iqbal told reporters at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport that they were looking forward to playing their best cricket during the tour where the Tigers will play one Test and five one-day internationals.
“Right at the moment we are looking forward to the warm-up match to acclimatize with the conditions. The boys are very confident of playing good cricket in the tour, regardless of the fact that we are going to play Test cricket after fourteen months break,” said confident Shakib.
Bangladesh will open their campaign with a three-day warm-up match at Harare starting from July 30.
“I don’t think there is any pressure on the team. I firmly believe that we will be able to continue our success against Zimbabwe if we can play our best cricket on the tour,” said Tamim.
Left-handed batsman Shariar Nafees, who particularly enjoys playing against Zimbabwe, believes that Bangladesh are favourites despite the fact that the Zimbabwe have home advantage.
“I’m confident and hopeful that we will be able to continue our recent good record against Zimbabwe if we can play our best cricket. I think the lone warm-up match is very important for us,” said Nafees.
If there is anything for the Tigers to be concerned about, it is their inexperienced pace bowling. Everybody will be looking forward to seeing how the young pace bowlers seize the day in the absence of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain.
Young pacer Shafiul Islam however was confident about his first trip to Zimbabwe.
“We worked hard for the last two months, and I’m hopeful that we will get the result of that hard work on tour,” said a confident Shafiul.
The first Test will start on August 4 at Harare where the first three one-day internationals will also take place on August 12, 14 and 16. The teams will then travel to Bulawayo to play the last two one-day internationals on August 19 and 21.
-With The Daily Star input
