Tigers start WC preparations today 

Bangladesh national cricket team will take on UAE in the first Twenty20 International at the Dubai International Stadium today as the Tigers look to boost preparations ahead of the tri-series in New Zealand followed by the T20 World Cup in Australia.

The Tigers will be without the services of skipper Shakib Al Hasan. His deputy Nurul Hasan Sohan will take charge for the two matches.

Bangladesh Cricket Board arranged for this series after the three-day intensive camp under technical consultant Sridharan Sriram was cut short due to heavy rain earlier this month.

Sriram is yet to familiarise himself with all the players at his disposal and aimed to use these two matches to figure out combinations as he looks to ramp up preparations.

Tigers’ spin bowling coach Rangana Herath deemed the series as an opportunity for the players to get some good performances under their belt. The Sri Lankan said that the series would act as solid preparation for the World Cup.

“Unfortunately, Shakib won’t be playing but at the same time, the other guys will be getting an opportunity to play some good cricket. UAE is playing good cricket. I know this is going to be a good series. I’m sure that we are getting good preparations leading up to the World Cup,” he said on Friday.

“This camp was mainly aimed at getting proper practice as a team before the World Cup. The guys will get good preparation on these surfaces under lights,” he added.

Bangladesh, who are going to the World Cup with automatic qualification, have been in wretched form since their exit from the 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE. The Tigers have won just two out of the 12 matches they’ve played since then, including a group-stage exit from the Asia Cup.

After such a string of poor results, Bangladesh will be looking to get back to winning ways in a format they are yet to come to terms with. The Tigers have played just one T20I match against the UAE that was in the 2016 Asia Cup when they triumphed by 51 runs in Mirpur.

The second match will be played at the same venue on Tuesday.