Tigers leave for UAE

Bangladesh national cricket team left for the United Arab Emirates on Thursday afternoon to play a two-match Twenty20 International series against the hosts as the Tigers look to ramp up their World Cup preparations.

The Tigers will play their first T20I on Sunday, with the second match of the tour set to be on Tuesday. Both matches will be played at the Dubai International Stadium.

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan will miss the two matches due to his involvement in the Caribbean Premier League, where he is playing for the Guyana Amazon Warriors. His deputy Nurul Hasan Sohan, who just recovered from a finger injury, will lead the side.

Other than Shakib, all members of the World Cup squad will make the tour and the Bangladesh Cricket Board included three of the four reserves, except for Shak Mahedi Hasan, to travel with the team.

Technical Consultant of the national team Sridharan Sriram’s three-day intensive care camp was cut short due to inclement weather last week. BCB chose to continue that line of preparation with these two matches in the UAE so that Sriram can have a better understanding of the squad, and figure out the right combinations.

Keeping in mind the preparations for the tri-series in New Zealand followed by the World Cup in Australia, Nurul said that winning these two matches will give them confidence going forward.

“These matches will provide good preparation for the World Cup. If we can win these matches, it will give us confidence going into the tri-series in New Zealand followed by the World Cup,” he said on Thursday.

“Our target will be to get back to winning ways. We have lost some matches recently but I think if we can make winning a habit then the confidence from that will help us figure out combinations, and change the complexion of the team,” he added.