A 15-member Bangladesh cricket team will fly to Guangzhou on Friday night with the hope of reaching the final of the first ever Twenty20 format cricket event in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
In the midst of intense discussion on whether cricket will be a part of the 2014 Games or not, Bangladesh are looking forward to winning at least a silver medal, if not a gold, from the discipline, although they did not have
adequate training, nor did they play any practice matches because of the recent New Zealand tour and the ongoing National Cricket League.
The head of delegates, Jalal Yunus, thinks they have put together a balanced team as all the players are playing in the National Cricket League and are on good form.
‘It is a very balanced side. Though we would love to get some practice and play a few Twenty20 matches but it did not happen, but the team is very capable and our goal is to play the final,’ Yunus said at a press briefing on Saturday.
Sarwar Imran, the Bangladesh A team coach, was appointed as the head coach and Mohammad Ashraful as the captain of the team.
Apart from Ashraful, Naeem Islam and Sohrawardi Shuvo, who both picked up four wickets in the third round of the NCL second phase, are the key players of the squad.
Squad: Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Shamsur Rahman (vice-captain), Naeem Islam, Foysal Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Mahbubul Alam, Nazmul Hossain, Nazimuddin, Sohrawardi Shuvo, Dollar Mahmud, Rony Talukder, Nasir Hossain, Mohammad Mithun, Shabbir Rahman and Shubhagata Hom Chowdhury.
