The cricketers started the preparation on Wednesday to begin the five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe with an aim to regain some pride after wobbled in the one-off Test which left the whole cricket fraternity astonished. Though Bangladesh did not loss the last six ODI series against Zimbabwe dating back to 2006, the scenario is now totally different as the East African opponent are more determined to break the jinx.
The first of the five-match ODI series will be held in Harare on Friday.
Certainly the brilliant Test win will give them the self-belief while Bangladesh are completely devastated and faced huge criticism.
After the loss, skipper Shakib Al Hasan blamed the lack of preparation which the BCB Cricket Operations Committee Chairman Enayet Hossain Siraj promptly ruled out.
“They told me that their preparation was up to the mark. So now they should not raise those issues.”
Chief selector Akram Khan also did not blame the lack of preparation as he thought Bangladesh should play sensible cricket. But Akram however did not look back and wanted the players to concentrate on to the upcoming one-day series.
“The thing that I observed, we should have applied ourselves more effective way. But I am not eager to talk about this issue right now.
“At the moment I want all to dismiss the negative talks. The Test loss is now past and as still the series in going on, we should concentrate on the upcoming task. After the series we’ll sit and take the necessary decision,” Akram told The Independent.
Akram who has been in regular conversation with the players through phone said players understood well what had gone wrong and they are now determined of not doing the same mistake.
“They could realise their faults and prepared themselves to compensate the loss. The started the preparation on Wednesday. Hopefully we could regain our pride in the ODI series,” he added.
The chief selector thought that it would be tough for Bangladesh now to win their successive seventh series against Zimbabwe as the hosts are now completely different outfit than recent times.
“The have been progressing gradually and eager to get back to their aura. Moreover the Test win inspired them to break the jinx,” he stated.
“It would be a competitive series. Therefore we’ve to apply ourselves more effective way,” the former skipper suggested.
Akram banked on selector Habibul Bashar Sumon’s experience to help the players overcoming the recent shocking defeat.
“Sumon has the experience to see a strong and depleted Zimbabwe outfit. He played there many times in his career. He shared his experience with the players and tried his best to recover the shocking loss.”
Meanwhile the BCB is now determined to sort out the reason behind the crushing defeat against Zimbabwe in the lone Test. It has been a trend to ask report from team management after any series but BCB hardly took any decision in the past based on the report.
BCB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Manjur Ahmed said this time around the same thing will not be happened.
“It’s a big loss for us as we have to face huge loss in different arenas. We will ask for a report for the loss and want to take punitive action based on the report. We’ve to take action for the future betterment.”
-With The Independent input
