Bangladesh ‘A’ team is determined not to lose Tigers’ winning habits when they take on India ‘A’ team in the upcoming series, said skipper Mominul Haque on Sunday.
Bangladesh ‘A’ team will leave for India today to take part in a series comprises of three one-day matches and two three-day games. Apart of left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib, the second string Bangladesh side includes 10 Test cricketers and three ODI players along with a Twenty20 player.
Bangladesh defeated Pakistan, India and South Africa during their last three ODI series to give an impression of being a consistent side at international level.
‘We have to hold on to our winning habits,’ Mominul told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday.
‘We cannot lose it and we are going to keep that in mind,’ said Mominul.
Bangladesh begin the series with three one-day games against Shikhar Dhawan’s India A-team before moving on to play two three-day matches against Ranji champions Karnataka and India ‘A’ respectively.
Mominul dismissed the possibilities of his team crumbling under pressure during the series as he believes his squad is matured enough to handle it.
‘At this level there is some pressure and if we cannot handle that we should stop playing cricket,’ said Mominul.
‘It’s not street cricket rather it’s a game of national team or ‘A’ team and there is some pressure,’ he added.
Mominul said he is looking forward to enjoy his stint as the captain as he is assured not to worry too much due to the presence of so many national cricketers in the squad.
‘I did not think too much about it,’ said Mominul.
‘I will try to enjoy my captaincy as I enjoy my batting.
‘I will be captaining after a while so naturally I need to learn a lot of things. There can be lacking in some spheres and I need to recover them.’ he said.
Coach Heath Streak, however, had full of praise of his skipper and said it could just be the beginning for the future leader of Bangladesh.
‘Mini [Mominul] has a very good cricketing head,’ said Streak.
‘He has a very good temperament. He has shown it in the Test arena.
‘His hunger for knowledge in cricket is good. Definitely, he would be a future leader. For him, this is a good reward. Hopefully this will be his start as a leader,’ he said.
Streak said the tour will be challenging for the bowlers and it will also be helpful for them to get some experience considering that India will host the next ICC World Twenty20 tournament.
‘Indian wickets are flat, batsman-friendly. I think for our bowlers it will be a challenge.
‘It will be a good preparation given that we will play the World T20 there [India] next year, for our guys to get exposed to the Indian wickets and conditions,’ he said.
-With New Age input