Out of favour Tigers’ batsman Junaed Siddique revealed that he is hopeful of making a comeback to the starting eleven of the National team for the upcoming T20 World
Cup in Sri Lanka during training at the National Academy in Mirpur yesterday.
“The preparation has gone pretty well. If I get a chance to play I will definitely try to prove myself. But the selection obviously depends on the team management,” he
said.
Although Junaed’s recent form shows nothing extraordinary in particular, aside from a 95 he scored against Khulna in the Premier League in late April, he is hoping his
good performances in the last T20 World Cup will aid his chances of selection.
“I had two good innings in the previous T20 World Cup against India and Pakistan. So hopefully the selectors will remember that,” he said.
But his eventual selection may well hinge on the BCB XI’s upcoming tour of Trinidad and Tobago which will start from August 30, where they will play three T20s. Junaed
is hopeful of positive results for the team citing the recent successes in the Asia Cup and also the moderately successful tours of Zimbabwe and Europe.
“We’ve developed a winning habit in the recent past which we will have to maintain ahead of the World Cup,” said Junaed.
His prime competitor for a place in the starting 11 is Mohammad Ashraful who has also been in decent form recently in T20s — making useful contributions at the top of
the order in the tours of Zimbabwe and Europe. But Junaed, who has a strike rate close to 133 compared to Ashraful’s strike rate of 115, believes his higher strike
rate ‘will play to my favour when it comes to getting selected in the starting 11’.
-With The Daily Star input
