After suffering embarrassing defeat in the three-match T20 series, Tigers eyeing to bounce back in the ODI series to start from today at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium Chattogram today.
The T20 series was very much significant for the Tigers ahead of the upcoming ICC T20 Cricket World Cup but they could not win the series at home ground to have some inspiration.
However, the Tigers’ captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto wants to make a winning start in the ODI series when they began the T20 series with a thrilling three runs defeat in a big scoring match (Sri Lanka 206, Bangladesh 203).
Though, Tigers bounced back in the next match with eight wickets defeat with 11 balls remaining but could not save the series after going in the series decider encounter.
However, this time the Bangladesh wants to make comeback with the ODI series, as the Tigers’ captain evidently expecting better approach from his fellow-mates.
But Bangladesh will have a big setback, as they had in the T20 series when Shakib Al Hassan will not available in the ODI series as well and due to absence of the star all-rounder obviously it would influence shaping the starting line-up and to have right team balance.
Bangladesh captain Shanto also mentioned it when he was speaking in a press meet on Tuesday that they fabricated the squad just keeping it mind the absence of Shakib Al Hassan. Meanwhile, this ODI series has also another significant for the Tigers when they will of course are looking forward to avoid a third straight defeat when they lost their last two home series to Afghanistan and New Zealand.
Shanto, in the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, a day before the start of the three-match ODI series said, “We are prepared for a bounce back as a team, so we need to start well to gain the momentum. Hopefully we’ll come up with our best performance.”
Shanto revealing their remarkable performances of two years back between 2015-2022 said, “We did very well between 2015 and 2022, but we had one bad year. That can happen. We always face challenges at this level, so it is important that we start playing well.”
About the team combination Shanto said, “We didn’t change our line-up much, we had in our last series in New Zealand. Shakib (Bhai) isn’t in the team, so there will be a bit more planning. He makes life easy for all of us. We will keep his absence in mind when making the batting order.”
Shanto who also has a great belief on the bowlers, despite a batting-friendly pitches of the Port City, but sometimes the dew is a factor – “It is important to see how the bowlers adjust to the conditions and wicket here (Chattogram), it’s definitely a challenge for them.
Everyone has to consider the conditions in which they are bowling. We are not worried about how much a bowler is conceding individually. We want to see the bowling unit operating well collectively.”
Bangladesh captain has also some confident on batter Soumya Sarker, who played an absolute masterclass 169 off 151 ball against New Zealand at the Saxton Oval in Nelson in 20th December 2023 to help Bangladesh post 291 in the second ODI against New Zealand.
“Soumya played a full series in New Zealand after a long time. He played a big innings in one of the matches. Everyone has to be consistent. There is room for improvement, and Soumya knows about it. He is working on it. His innings in New Zealand was indeed a big deal for our team, especially in those conditions. I am hopeful that he will use his opportunity well.”
Bangladesh can expect to play in front of small crowds at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium given it's Ramadan time. Shanto said that it didn't worry him as he expected the crowds to come as soon as the team started to do well.
“Everything is okay the moment we win a game. We probably become a bad team after losing one game. The lower hype may be due to the start of Ramadan. We are not worried about it. Those who follow the team, they always come to the ground. I think they become emotional because they expect a lot more from us. We always try to give our best to make them happy,” Shanto revealed.