||Desk Report||

Juniors need to step up if Bangladesh want to go far in the Asia Cup, said Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza on Friday.

Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka in the opening game of the Asia Cup at the Dubai International Stadium, on Saturday

Tigers will begin the tournament as a serious contender for the title of the regional cricket extravaganza and will be hoping to go one better this time around after reaching the finals of the 50-over Asia Cup in 2012 and also of the T20 version in 2016 before losing at home to Pakistan and India respectively.

Though they have played in two finals of the last three editions, it is quite obvious that the fortune of the Tigers depend largely on the performance of the five seniors- Mashrafee, Sakib, Mushfiq, Riyad and Tamim.

However the same cannot be said about the so-called juniors of the team as apart from Mehedi Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, none could cement their place in the ODI’s set-up.

There is a possibility that Asia Cup could well be the platform for some of the other members of the team to make a serious claim for a permanent place in the playing XI.

All the eyes will be on Liton Kumar Das in the opening slot or Mohammad Mithun at number six as they are making a comeback in the 50-over format after a while.

“You cannot really call them juniors. There are players other than us [the five seniors] who have played for three, five, 10 years and in international cricket you are no longer new or juniors after playing for three years,’’  Mashrafee told reporters during the practice session ahead of their opening game against Sri Lanka. ‘’I think they too have to step up and perform,’’ he said.

The skipper however is hopeful that they will compliment the seniors in time of need and emphasized that only if they play like a team can they succeed in the tournament.