Tigers out to gain confidence ahead of T20 WC

DHAKA - After conceding a four-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh aims to regain confidence ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup by beating Ireland in their second last official practice game tomorrow

(Thursday) at the ADC Oval 1 ground in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The
match starts at 8PM (Bangladesh Standard Time).  

     The Tigers' overall performance in the first warm-up game against Sri
Lanka was not encouraging one as they failed to put up an expected
performance in both batting and bowling.  

    The shining light of Bangladesh in the first game was Soumya Sarkar who
showed his brilliance in both batting and bowling. Soumya firstly blasted 26
ball-34, the highest for Bangladesh in their 147-7 in 20 overs and later
claimed two wickets before Sri Lanka raced to the victory with 148-6 in 19
overs.  

    Soumya's return to form after a long time would definitely boost
Bangladesh. But what is more important for them to get back to winning way
ahead of the first fixture in the T20 World Cup, considered as cricket's
third biggest extravaganza after ODI World Cup and Champions Trophy.  

    Skipper Mahmudullah Riyad missed the first warm up game due to his back
pain while fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was rested. It is highly likely that
Mustafizur will play the second practice game but it is not clear whether
Mahmudullah would play the game.  

    His injury was not serious but the team management kept Mahmudullah in
rest given the fact that Bangladesh would have to play three matches in Round
1 without any significant gap. After playing this match, Bangladesh will
travel back to Oman on Friday for their Round 1 phase. Mahmudullah and his
troops will start their mission, taking on Scotland on October 17 after which
they will face off hosts Oman on October 19 and Papua New Guinea on October
21. It is expected that they won't face any stern challenges from this sides
and would effortlessly qualify for the Super 12s.  

    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.  

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, Rubel Hossain.BSS