Tigers keen to break the jinx in Sri Lanka
Pic: SLC
CF Correspondent
Bangladesh, oozing with confidence, to fare well in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, despite knowing that the Lankans are tough nut to crack at their own soil.
The Tigers though didn’t win any bilateral series here in Sri Lanka as of now, they held the Lankans for draw in the recent two visits here in 2013 and 2017.
However they beat Sri Lanka at their own den recent in some multinational tournament—both in T20 and ODI format—something which made them absolutely confident to break the jinx this time around.
“I think playing Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka will be difficult. But we have done well when we played here last time and I hope we will continue the momentum and do produce some good cricket for Bangladesh,” Bangladesh interim captain Tamim Iqbal said in Colombo on Monday.
And winning the game against Sri Lanka will erase the pain of dismal World Cup outing as per common belief.
“I thought we had a pretty decent World Cup. There were few games that we should have won. If you see the points table, you will probably see we had a very bad World Cup. ..We, the cricketers also felt that we could have done more. But we played some good cricket. But we are in a stage in Bangladesh, playing good cricket doesn’t matter for us anymore. Winning games is more important than anything else so,” Tamim said.
“Yes, if you think about that way yes, we had a disappointing World Cup. So I’m looking forward to the series. Just told you that this will be a very important series. There are few important players who play in the first XI are missing due to personal reasons. But I think that the squad who have are very capable.”
Tamim Iqbal is chosen to lead the side after Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s injury-forced absence.
He said he is keen to lead the side exemplary as Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) kept faith on him despite his poor outing in World Cup.
“This thing was given to me by the cricket board and I need to take that as a challenge. I need to make sure my team responds me well. I need to lead by example with my performances. So I am looking forward to it. It’s a new challenge and I am sure I am going to enjoy it. Then I will see what happens after the series,” he said.
“It was really good that we could come here two days before. Here the weather is very much hot. So there is a point of adjustment. We have an important practice match tomorrow [today]. We are trying to play those players who will play in the first one-dayer. Coach and selectors will make final decision about it. But till now we are thinking to give the opportunity of playing in the warm-up match to those who will play the first match.”
