Experienced Bangladesh batsman Mohammad Ashraful has rated Devendra Bishoo highly and said the young West Indies leg-spinner can be a big threat in the coming home series.
West Indies will arrive in Dhaka on October 4 to play a T20 international, three ODIs and two Tests during their 27-day stay.
“He (Bishoo) is a very good leg-spinner. There is a chance that we may struggle against him especially in the two-match Test series and that’s why he can be a threat for us. So we have to be careful against him and must ensure good batting performances,” Ashraful warned.
The 25-year old Bishoo has been named the Emerging Player of the Year for 2011 at the ICC Awards Ceremony in London recently because of his impressive appearance on the international scene, taking 21 wickets in five Tests at an average of 35.42 and 19 wickets in 11 ODIs at an average of 21.57.
Ashraful was however delighted by the fact that West Indies is coming without three of their key players — Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, who did not feature in the West Indies Test and ODI squads for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh.
“We have a very good chance in the series as they will miss the services of their three key players. But we must ensure that we play our best cricket if we want to do something in our home conditions,” observed Ashraful.
“I believe we have the potential to do well in all three versions against this West Indies side but there is a pre-condition, which is that we must put up a good batting show. There will be a good chance for us in the one-day series if we can put up 240-plus runs on the board,” he added.
The dismal batting performance in the World Cup match against West Indies, in which the Tigers were bundled out for 58 runs, still haunts Bangladesh fans and everybody will love to see the Tigers avenge their heavy defeat in the coming home series.
“We were dismissed for 58 runs in our own conditions and I think it was simply an accident. I firmly believe that we have got the ability to show something against this West Indies side in our home conditions,” said Ashraful.
The right-hander believed that he got back his confidence after playing a good knock in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe and his performance in the recently concluded BCB Cup gave him the belief that he has got back the rhythm in his batting.
The former national skipper said that everybody should support new captain Mushfiqur Rahim for a good result.
“We must keep faith in him especially during the bad times,” advised Ashraful, who lost the hot seat in 2009 due to poor performances with the bat.
-With The Daily Star input
