2nd practice game
Tigers face Pakistan today
Bangladesh face a much more stronger opponent in shape of Pakistan as they play their second practice at Sher-e- Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) today (Tuesday).
Australian coach Jamie Siddons talking about today’s match on Monday at SBNS Academy said, he wants his player not to think about the practice match’s result but to carry on with the good work which they have been doing for the last couple of month.
Tigers after strolling to nine wickets win over minnows Canada in Chittagong in their first practice on February 11 will be far more gear up at they meet Pakistan in their last warm-up match, in a day night affair, ahead of the up coming World Cup.
” Yes it’s important to keep the momentum but we are not too worried about the result,” Siddons told the reporters.
“We always try to win a games. But I will ask my players to play their normal game as they would have played against any side. I might use seven bowlers instead of five to give everyone a chance. So it’s not a proper cricket match,” said Siddons.
Talking about Pakistan, Siddons said, ” They have a good team. But we are just worried about our own game not about Pakistan. They will probably play 14 players and we will play 13 but the reality is it’s not actually a cricket match but it is a practice match. Siddons was also in favour of trying to play a extra bowler instead of a batsman and not ready to experiment too much with the present batting line-up.
“Yes, the batting line up will be same as it was in Chittagong. But no one saw the batting line up in Chittagong (Tigers were set a small target by Canada in Chittagong) so don’t know what we are going to do,” said Siddons.
“We will not go for a lot of experiments. The batting lineup will be pretty close. As there will be 13 players playing so there will be extra bowlers and not batsmen,” said Siddons.
The coach he would be happy if his players could take lessons from the mistakes of the last match against Canada.
Siddons does not want to remember 1999 where Tigers beat Pakistan in a World Cup match in 1999.
“1999 is miles away, it is now 2011, no point looking back into the past. Pakistan are a very competitive team. They have talented players just l;ike India and playing against then should be a good practice opportunity for us before our first match against Indian,” he added.
Coach was also happy with the bowling of paceman Rubel and insisted his prime spin bowler Abdur Razzak will also try to put up a more impressive performance leaving behind his ordinary performance against Canada.
“Rubel is our number two opening bowler since Mashrafee is being out because of injury. He got two wickets. He got a early break through. We need to get two three early wickets to restrict our opponents,” said Siddons.
“Razzak was ordinary against Canada but he is bowling better today. He came through an extra half an hour practice yesterday. His landing is better. I am sure he will step up before the big game,” said Siddons.
Siddons also defended the decision of Bangladesh batting second in the practise match against Canada as it gave his team a opportunity to bat under the light.
“We batted in the day-time a lot. So we needed to bat in the night and the dew factor was a big aspect. We wanted to bat a lot but we did not get chance. It’s a bit disappointing,” said Siddons
