A confident-looking Bangladesh take on Nepal in a crucial ICC World Twenty20 first round tie at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium today, with a win virtually guaranteeing their place in the next phase. The Tigers defeated Afghanistan by nine wickets while Nepal defeated Hong Kong by 80 runs in their respective opening games of Group A first round matches from where the winners will qualify for the next round along with Group B winners.
Bangladesh are looking a changed unit after defeating the Afghan team comprehensively, but they are complacent though they are facing a side, who are making their debut in the tournament.
The urgency looked evident as skipper Mushfiqur Rahim went early to the practice ground along with Shane Jurgensen and other coaching staff for a long individual batting session in the nets while the rest of the team reached the venue as per schedule.
‘Our confidence level was low before we defeated UAE but certainly we began to get into groove after defeating Ireland in a dominating manner,’ said Sabbir, who was preferred ahead of Mominul Haque for his all-round capability and smart fielding.
‘Though we were a bit shaky but once the first ball was bowled we started to pick up ourselves and later what happened was the outcome of our combined effort,’ he added.
The Tigers would be looking for a repeat of similar feat against Nepal as a victory in the match will enable them to advance to the next stage.
The ZACS venue that had always favoured the Tigers in the past, however, is not the same considering the wicket that is expected to have some grass while the boundary rope is certainly bigger than what they had seen in the opener.
According to the insiders, the grass was primarily due to presence of ICC
chief curator Andy Atkinson, who though did not interfere but made sure that there were some grasses on the pitch as per the ICC guideline.
The players need to play more ground shots than lofted ones while there will be some assistance for the pace bowlers.
The spinners will the balls skid instead of taking huge turn because of dew in the evening, a reason why two left-arm spinners ran through the Hong Kong line-up when they came out to bat.
This can also be a blessing in disguise with the Tigers having world-class spinners in Sakib al Hasan and Abdur Razzak while they have experienced pace bowlers and another seamer is an option after seeing the wicket in the morning.
Mashrafee bin Murtaza, Rubel Hossain, Al Amin and Farhad Reza are the four pace bowlers in the Tigers squad.
While the Tigers would be keen to show their superiority, Nepal would like to seize the opportunity against a Test playing nation,
‘More than pressure, it is an opportunity. We shouldn’t be thinking too much about being explosive,’ said Nepal skipper Paras Khadke.
‘We should take it nice and slow, build it up. We will play cricket that we know. We can’t change anything,’ said Khadke adding ‘we are here to compete, we are not here for participation only.’
-With New Age input
