Bangladesh are hoping to keep the ongoing three-match one-day international series alive when they take on India in the second ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium today. An under-strength India went 1-0 up in the rain-interrupted opener to pile more misery on the hosts, who were looking to make a turnaround from their recent woes but only suffered their eighth consecutive ODI defeat in 2014.
‘We still do have a chance,’ pace bowler Al Amin Hossain told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday.
‘We are not thinking too much about the series, rather we want
to make a comeback through
tomorrow’s (today’s) match,’ said Al Amin.
Al Amin added that the game was decided during first power-play where the Bangladeshi batsmen had a different approach than their counterparts.
India were always on a par with the required run-rate during their chase after restricting Bangladesh to 272-9, making the Tigers’ bowling attack pretty ordinary.
‘They responded every time with a boundary, charging us down the wicket when our bowlers beat
them with one or two balls,’ said Al Amin.
‘On the other hand, our batsmen played slowly. And when the batsmen played slow cricket, the bowlers got aggressive,’ he said.
Bangladesh had their practice in the afternoon on Monday at the SBNS though the focus remained on all-rounder Sakib al Hasan, who hogged the headlines for both on and off the field activities.
Sakib scored a half-century and followed it up with two wickets in
the opening game but failed to control his temper during the rain-break after he learnt that some spectators had made indecent gesture towards his wife.
He went there and slapped one of them that took all the gloss off his superlative performance in the Tigers’ jersey.
Though he did not participate in the practice he looked to be pretty cool about the whole incident as he was found joking with some of his team-mates.
Bangladesh are expected to make a change for the second ODI, debuting wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Mithun replacing either Mominul Haque or Ziaur Rahman.
Some Indian cricketers also participate in their optional training.
-With New Age input
