Tigers to play warm-up game against Oman A team

 DHAKA - The Bangladesh are all set to play a practice game against Oman A team on October 8, as part of their preparation for the
upcoming T20 World Cup.

     The Tigers are now in Oman, the co-host of the T20 World Cup along with
United Arab Emirates (UAE) to set up their conditioning camp. They had
already started their training here today after one-day room quarantine, a
BCB press release said.

     Bangladesh initially skipped this practice game against Oman A due to
quarantine issue but after arriving here, they decided to play the match. A
senior BCB official said after a discussion with the Oman Cricket Board, they
took the decision to play the game.

     After the practice game, the Tigers will travel to Dubai on October 9 to
take part in two official practice games on October 12 and 14 against Sri
Lanka and Ireland respectively. Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, who
are now playing the IPL in UAE, will join the side here.

     Mahmudullah Riyad and his troops then will return to Oman on October 15
to play in the qualifier stage and will take on Scotland in their first
qualifier game on October 17.

     They will face off against Oman and Papua New Guinea on October 19 and
21.

     If they can overcome the hurdle of the qualifying round, they will then
travel to UAE to play the Super 12s matches.

     The Tigers so far played 25 matches in the World Cup of this shortest
version of cricket and won just five-four of which came in the qualifying
round. They won only one match against the West Indies in the tournament
proper.

     Bangladesh cricket's first poster boy Mohammad Ashraful was the
architect of that six-wicket victory with a blitzkrieg 27 ball-61, that
included seven fours and three sixes. Aftab Ahmed also played his part with a
brilliant 49 ball-62 not out.

     Since that landmark victory, a win continued to elude them as they
remain winless in the 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 World Cup.

     This time the responsibility of the team is in the hands of Mahmudullah
Riyad. With a bunch of young cricketers and having a wealth of experience in
Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Mustafizur Rahmand and Liton
Das, Bangladesh looked like a team to beat any team in any kind of condition.
But still it will be a huge challenging matter, specially when their ability
to play well in the sporting wicket is utterly questionable.

     Squad: Mahmudullah Riyad (Captain), Naim Sheikh, Soumya Sarkar, Liton
Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak
Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed,
Mohammad Saifuddin, Shamim Patwari. Stand by: Rubel Hossain, Aminul Islam Biplob. BSS