Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) started a three-day preparation camp on Monday involving the national team players, and some selected players from the high-performance unit and Bangladesh Tigers programme. After the disastrous Asia Cup, this is the first preparation camp of the Bangladesh team.
A total of 33 players are part of this camp. They took part in a match-scenario practice session on Monday.
BCB will announce the squad for the T20 World Cup, which will begin in Australia in October, this week. It is understood that the ongoing camp is formed to test the players for the last time ahead of the World Cup squad announcement.
Bangladesh might bring a few changes to the World Cup squad overlooking some players who took part in the Asia Cup. As Mushfiuqr Rahim retired from the T20 format, a new face will surely find a place to replace him and that might be Nurul Hasan Sohan who missed the Asia Cup due to an injury.
Mahmudullah Riyad, who failed to impress in recent matches, may also get another chance in the squad for his experience. However, Khaled Mahmud, the team director and former captain, said he is not sure if Mahmudullah is in the Bangladesh squad for the World Cup.
“We didn’t get what we expect from him,” Mahmud said on Monday. “Mahmudullah is our match-winner. We have to remember it. He has some innings that helped Bangladesh to bring up big wins. So he is under our consideration. But we have to wait until we make a final call.”
Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain in T20Is, kept the expectation low ahead of the Asia Cup. But he might have not thought that Bangladesh would perform so badly and lose all the matches in the group stage.
After an early exit from the event, Shakib said Bangladesh need more head than heart in T20Is to do well in the coming days.
Bangladesh will play five matches in the Super 12s round of the World Cup. The Tigers will take the field in their first match on October 24 while their other matches are on October 27, 30, and on November 2 and 6.
The top two teams from each group of the Super 12s round will qualify for the Semifinals which will be played on November 9 and 10. The final of the World Cup will be played on November 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Source: United News of Bangladesh