We cannot take anything for granted- Mashrafee
Pic: Cricfrenzy
CF Correspondent
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza said on Monday that they are well aware about the strength of their opponent and not taking anything for granted as they prepare to take on West Indies in the opening game of the tri-nation on Tuesday.
West Indies are missing some of leading cricketers but despite they had walked away over the Ireland team during their opening game on the back of centuries by John Campbell and Shai Hope.
Though several of their first-choice cricketers are taking part in the Indian Premier League it never looked to be a serious concern for the islanders as the openers put up a record breaking opening stand in the tri-series opener against Ireland and it just to show the fire power possessed despite only half of the 14-man squad named for the tri-series will be taking part in the World Cup.
‘’There are few players in the West Indies squad that we know can win a match single handedly,’’ Mashrafee told reporters ahead of their tri-nation opener on Monday.
‘’There is Shai Hope and we have struggled against him even at our own backyard. He[ Hope] is carrying a good form while there is Darren Bravo and their pace attack is also good,’’ he said.
‘’They have played a good game yesterday while we lost the practice match so for us it is important that we execute our plan properly when we take on them tomorrow,’’ he said.
The last time these two teams met, Bangladesh won the bilateral one-day international series 2-1 in December 2018. Since the start of 2019, however, West Indies have been in a different form altogether.
After levelling the five-match one-day international series against England 2-2, they enjoyed a strong start to the tri-nation tournament and decimated the hosts with ease – openers Shai Hope and John Campbell setting up the 196-run win with a record opening stand. While they are not playing their full-strength side, the form of their bench strength bodes well for the upcoming ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019.
On the other hand, Bangladesh are coming from a 0-3 ODI series loss against New Zealand. They were the better team when they faced West Indies last year but replicating that success will not be easy against a confident opposition.
