Tigers seek winning start against Windies

The hosts Bangladesh seeks a winning start to the three-match ODI series as they take on a depleted West Indies in the first match tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Bangladesh indeed is set to return to International cricket with this match after a 10-month long Covid-19-induced-break.
Due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) situation, no spectators will be allowed at the stadium in the match, which starts at 11.30am. State-run Bangladesh Television (BTV) as well as private TV channels T-sports and Nagorik TV will air the match live.

“Winning the series is a must. But I think the most important thing is to start tomorrow’s match well,” Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal said here today.

“We are back in international cricket after almost a year. So, it’s important to have a good start—if we bowl first then we should bowl well in the first five overs and if we bat first, we should bat well in the first five overs. Then we’ll try to win everything. But first I am focusing on tomorrow.”

A total of 10 West Indies players including ODI captain Keiron Pollard and Test captain Jason Holder skipped the tour due to Covid-19 fear, while two others remained absent for personal reasons, making it the weakest Caribbean team in the history.

Tamim said they can’t control the West Indies team rather what they can control is to how they could play good cricket.

He further said since the series is the part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, a league that offers direct qualifying spots to the top seven teams apart from hosts India for the next World Cup in 2023, added context to the series and hence they can’t take anything granted even against a depleted side.

Teams get 10 points for a win, five for an abandonment/tie/no result and none for a loss, and ranked according to total points earned. The sides failing to qualify directly get a second shot through the Cricket World Cup Qualifier to be played in June and July of 2023.

“Which team they will send, who will come or not, is not at our hands and not our control. Our good game is in our control. Now the series is not a normal series, where there is no problem to lose. Every match is important for World Cup qualifying. We are only focusing on what we can control. There is not much benefit in talking about what is out of control,” Tamim clarified.

“Normally there is always the pressure to win. From now on until the 2023 World Cup, we will play 27-28 ODIs and winning every match is very important for us now for the points system,” he added.

“We will definitely want it so that our qualifying game doesn’t take off. So that we can stay in the top eight. All matches are important for us. We have no control over which team is coming or who is playing. We will work on what is under our control,” he concluded.

BSS/GY