Home ›› 13 Jul 2022 ›› Sport
Bangladesh finally achieved their first win on the West Indies tour and the cricketers are trying to carry the momentum to the second One-Day International of the series today at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.
The Tigers lead the three-match series 1-0, which took their winning streak against West Indies to nine matches in ODIs. The conditions of Guyana suit the forte of Bangladesh, and with the momentum gained from the win, Tamim Iqbal wants to seal the series.
“We have to bring our A-game. They (West Indies) are a good and dangerous team. We must rectify our mistakes because against any stronger opposition, those mistakes will cost us,” the ODI skipper told the media after winning the first ODI.
Bangladesh restricted West Indies to 149-9 in the 41-overs per side match but dropped a few catches. Tamim believed the target could be lesser if those were taken.
“Though we have won, we made many mistakes. In a better condition against stronger opposition, those dropped catches could be very costly. After becoming captain, I am constantly saying that this is one particular side that concerns me. We must stop it, or the numbers should decrease. If we hadn’t dropped those catches, probably we would be chasing 115 runs,” he said.
Najmul Hossain Shanto played an ODI after almost one-and-a-half years. Tamim picked him over Anamul Haque, who had a tremendous domestic List A season. Shanto scored 37 runs off 46 deliveries. Tamim explained why he picked the left-hander.
“I think we made the right decision because Shanto has been in the team for the last three series. If I preferred Anamul, who had a fantastic season, over Shanto, then the decision of keeping Shanto in the past three series would be wrong. Whenever an opportunity comes, the player who has been moving with the team should get the upper hand. This is what I want to establish as a captain,” he told the reporters.
Bangladesh traditionally do not break the winning combination and are likely to go with the same team against West Indies today.
“There is no easy way to success in international cricket. When there are six batsmen on the team, we have to make sure that whoever gets settled must carry the innings. For me, you have to have five proper bowlers in the team,” the skipper told the media.
Nasum Ahmed edged Taijul Islam as the first-choice bowling option in Shakib Al Hasan’s absence. After playing 22 Twenty20 Internationals, Nasum finally stepped into the ODI team as the 138th cricketer for Bangladesh. In his debut match, he was compact, giving away only 16 runs in his eight overs with two maidens.
Bangladesh are looking forward to correcting the mistakes in the second game and trying to seal the series while West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran is hopeful about bouncing back.
“We have lost to Bangladesh in the last couple of ODI series. But I think despite trailing by 1-0, we will win the series. We will make our plans and bounce back,” he said.
The West Indies captain also feels they gave a few chances to Mahmudullah, which changed the complexion of the game.
“Maybe Mahmudullah was lucky. Shai (Hope, wicketkeeper) was saying that the ball turned too much. Others were telling me to go for a review. Now they are feeling like killing me. We had two reviews in hand, if I went for the review, it could have changed the game. Bangladesh were still 35-40 runs short at that time,” Pooran said after the match.
