An injury-plagued Bangladesh, confronted with the stigma of suspect bowling actions, will go into their second ICC World T20 qualifier against Ireland at Dharamsala Cricket Stadium today. The match will start at 8 pm BST.
While a win will almost guarantee Bangladesh a place in the World Cup proper, the job in hand against a team, considered the kings of the associates, is of paramount importance in the context of what transpired in the last 24 hours after their nervy eight-run win against the Netherlands at the same venue on Wednesday.
The Irish are a tough opposition to beat. Although Bangladesh enjoy a 3-1 head-to-head lead against them in this format, the Tigers won their last two games in Belfast in 2012 in the very last over.
But the Tigers have more pressing issues in hand to confront. Their inspirational skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, whose one important over virtually won them the game against the Netherlands, is nursing a swollen right wrist and thumb. He was actually not even able to flex his right thumb while having his lunch at the cafeteria of the Pavilion Hotel on Thursday. Mashrafe sustained the bruise while trying to stop a straight drive in the first match.
All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who sustained heavy bruising on his groin during the Asia Cup, is still recovering from that painful blow. Young Mustafizur Rahman is still nursing his side strain and according to coach Chandika Hathurusingha he was still not 100 per cent fit. Besides, Taskin Ahmed, who has been seamless with the ball for the last six games, will certainly feel the pinch while bowling in the match.
The biggest concern for the Tigers is that they will be playing their first game under lights at a venue where wickets behave a bit differently at night.
“It will be very important for us to win the toss tomorrow [today]. The wicket is not only two-paced but becomes a bit more difficult to bowl on in the second half due to the heavy dew. We have seen the last game between Hong Kong and Ireland last night [Wednesday] where the bowlers struggled to grip the ball at the death. So, it will be important to win the toss and bowl first,” said Mashrafe to two reporters at the team hotel yesterday.
He also had his arguments for bowling first.
“When you bowl first it’s difficult for the opponent to score runs in the first six overs. So, in a 20-over game you have little to do with those remaining 15 overs,” he said, adding that he would have to overcome yet another pain barrier today.
While Mashrafe focused on the wicket, his coach Hathurusingha wanted to weed out those fielding lapses, such as Nasir Hossain dropping Netherlands skipper on Wednesday.
“If you drop a catch, it’s always a concern. If he is a good player it hurts. I think we are trying very hard. So, there are some areas which we still need to improve. We are winning matches despite those slips, that’s the good thing,” said the coach.
He also wanted his batting to click against Ireland, who suffered a stunning two-wicket loss to Oman on Wednesday.
“I know Ireland are a professional team, although they had a bit of hiccup yesterday [Wednesday]. In T20 cricket you can’t predict. Anything can happen, one over can change the game. So we expect everyone to do their best. Perform to our potential. I think if we play to our potential I expect us to win the game,” said the coach.
