Bangladesh keen to beat West Indies once again
With a sweet memory of the first-ever multinational cricket trophy, the Tri-nation series in Ireland, beating West Indies thrice last month, the Tigers are keen to beat the Caribbean boys once again in their 5th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at Taunton on Monday.
The match will kick off at 3:30 (BdST) and will be telecast by Massranga tv, Gtv and Btv. At the same time, Rabbithole (rabbitholebd.com) and Bioscope (bioscopelive.com) will telecast the match online.
Bangladesh played four matches in the ongoing World Cup so far and won one, lost two while one match was washed out due to rain.
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They have secured only three points in the World Cup so far. Now, they have to win at least four out of five remaining matches to secure a place in the semi-finals.
To pursue the dream of semi-finals, Bangladesh have no way but overcoming the challenge of the West Indies. The Tigers can find the confidence from their last multinational event - tri-series in Ireland - where they beat West Indies three times.
West Indies have also played four matches and secured three points from one win, two losses and one no-result matches. They are also keen to earn more points to confirm a semi-finals berth.
Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal believes West Indies will attack Bangladeshi batting line up with their ability of high-quality pace bowling during the first ten to 15 overs of Bangladesh’s innings.
It will create a huge pressure on the top-order, and at the same time, it will create opportunities to score runs quickly as well, Tamim said.
“West Indies usually targeted their opponent with the short ball in the first 10 to 15 overs. They also give run-scoring opportunities. We have to prepare for both, that is why we are working hard in practice. We normally try to prepare ourselves according to the strength of the opponent,” Tamim told the media on Saturday.
Tamim thinks West Indies are playing with new plan in the World Cup which is different than they did in tri-nation series in Ireland.
“We want to make sure of short ball barrage is not a surprise to us. We have the idea about their batsmen and bowlers, but they are playing in the World Cup with different planning. It is not the same thing that we faced in Ireland. They are focusing mainly on the short ball. But, if we handle it well, there will be opportunities to post more runs on the board,” Tamim added.
Bangladesh might bring some changes to their playing XI in this match. Mohammad Mithun, who is yet to do something memorable in the World Cup or likely to lose his place to Liton Das.
At the same time, some sources close to the team management hinted that Rubel Hossain likely to make the playing XI replacing Mehidy Hasan Miraz. The right-arm spinner has been doing well, but Rubel might get a chance considering the condition of match day.
Bangladesh have some concerns regarding the fitness of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. Shakib was set to miss the Sri Lanka match, which was washed out due to rain, for a niggle. On the other hand, Mushfiqur got a blow on his right hand during the net session on Saturday.
However, sources confirmed both of them are likely to make the playing XI against West Indies.
Bangladesh’s probable XI: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Rubel Hossain/ Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman.
