Two young left-arm spinners Taijul Islam and Arafat Sunny ruled out any competition between them and rather said that they want to complement each other during the upcoming World Cup. With Sakib al Hasan in the squad and certain to play every game barring injury or suspension, Taijul and Sunny will be vying for the slot of second spinner in the starting lineup.‘We are not thinking anything about the competition,’ said Sunny.
‘The condition is different there [in Australia and New Zealand] and the team management will decide whether one or two spinners will play.
‘We will try to grab the opportunity whenever it comes to our way.’
The duo was speaking at a press conference on the first day of Bangladesh’s formal preparation for the World Cup that began at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday.
Barring Sakib al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, who are currently in Australia, all players from the 15-man World Cup squad joined and reported on the opening day, when the preparation was limited to a meeting and some fitness drills
Embattled paceman Rubel Hossain, who was released from jail on Sunday after he secured bail in a case filed by film actress Naznin Akter Happy, also joined the training.
Pacemen Shafiul Islam, Mohammad Shahid and Abul Hasan, batsman Imrul Kayes and leg-spinner Jubair Hosssain, who are not in the World Cup squad but can be picked as stand-by cricketer, have also joined the training.
Selectors ignored calls from many corners to include leg-spinner Jubair Hossain and instead picked up both Sunny and Taijul, which apparently made Bangladesh’s spin attack one dimensional.
But Sunny suggested that they were two very different types of bowlers despite both of them being left-arm spinners. ‘I and Taijul are different bowlers. Taijul turns the ball giving flight whereas I try to bowl wicket to wicket. I always try to bowl in way so that I can check the runs. If I can bowl economically from my end, I think it will help the team.’
Both Sunny and Taijul did well in recent home series against Zimbabwe that Bangladesh won 5-0. Sunny grabbed four wickets in back-to-back matches while Taijul made his opportunity count by creating a piece of history with a hat-trick on debut.
But their baptism is yet to be completed as the duo have never played in Australian conditions. Despite the inexperience, Taijul, arguably the most gifted among all Bangladesh spinners, said they can easily make up for it.
‘We will try to take help from Sakib Bhai [Sakib al Hasan], Mashrafee Bhai [Mashrafee bin Murtaza] who played in Australian conditions,’ Taijul said.
‘They are already giving us many tips.
‘Also we have watched the Big Bash matches and India-Australia matches in television. I think those will also give us a lot of benefits.’
Sunny added that coach Chandika Hathurusinghe can also give a lot of inputs from his knowledge about the conditions.
‘Our head coach Hathurusinghe worked for many days in Australia, so I think he can help,’ said Sunny.
‘We are describing the conditions as different because the pitches offer some bounce. They are unlike in our wicket, where ball stay low.
‘I don’t think there will be any other differences. Our job is to bowl in the right area and if we can do this I think our team will get a good result.’
Taijul said confidence will be the key factor during the World Cup matches.
‘I don’t think bouncy wickets will be able create a big problem. I played on bouncy wickets in West Indies and did well. So keeping confidence will be the key for us. The more confident we can be, it will be the better.’
Sunny added that getting chance in World Cup squad was like a dream coming true but insisted that they must come out of this dreams and concentrate on the job in hand.
‘World Cup is like a dream,’ he said.
‘But we cannot always live on a dream. We must come out of this and think of doing well in matches,’ he said.
-With New Age input
