If the recent performance of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe is anything to go by, the series between the two sides should be a mismatch. While Bangladesh would go into the series on the backdrop of four straight home ODI series victory, the Zimbabwe came into the series in a jaded and out-of-sort state, having lost the ODI and Twenty20 series to ICC associate Afghanistan.Bangladesh look to stretch home run
Zimbabwe have nothing to loss
Sports Reporter
If the recent performance of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe is anything to go by, the series between the two sides should be a mismatch. While Bangladesh would go into the series on the backdrop of four straight home ODI series victory, the Zimbabwe came into the series in a jaded and out-of-sort state, having lost the ODI and Twenty20 series to ICC associate Afghanistan.
But the Southern African nation can heave a huge sigh of relief, pondering that the pressure will be on the hosts to end the highly successful year with happy note. Bangladeshs series victory against low ranked Zimbabwe wouldnt make world sit up but a loss in a single match would blur the success, achieved throughout the year.
On paper it would be a low key series with other high profile series going on around the world but for Bangladesh, its an opportunity to end the year unbeatably, something what they could never achieve in its cricket history. If the ODI series is counted, Bangladesh as of now, didnt lose any series at home. They indeed remained unbeaten at home soil in limited over cricket since June 2014. India which sent an almost second string side then, remained the last team to beat Bangladesh in an ODI series at home. Since then Bangladesh had successfully got the better of three top ranked teams- Pakistan, India and South Africa. The run started with the home series win over Zimbabwe in December last year when they whitewashed them in five-match ODI series. Then it was the World Cup in tough condition in Australia and New Zealand where they prospered with full glory and reached the quarterfinal stage for the first time. The success of World Cup carried forward to the series against Pakistan, whom they also whitewashed in three-match ODI series.
If the success against Pakistan is considered as fluke, Bangladesh won the first ever ODI series against India by 2-1 to prove they are no longer a whispering boy in world cricket. If the success against India is considered as one-off incident, Bangladesh silenced the critics, crushing second-ranked South Africa by 2-1 in an ODI series in which they came back with bang after losing the first match by eight wickets. The professionalism of South Africa is always beyond the question and there is no doubt that they are the best visiting team in the world. The young blood in Bangladesh cricket team however heralded the new changes with fearless mindset. And there was shrewd guidance and presence of head coach Chandika Hathuruginsh whose every move so far has been proved as a masterstroke.
The likes of Mustafizur Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das have been nothing short of a revelation for Bangladesh. After a haughty debut ODI series against India in June, in which he snapped up 13 wickets, Mustafizur made a seamless transition to Test cricket. His incisive wicket-taking abilities have made the Bangladeshi bowling arsenal all the more potent.
Soumyas audacious batting at the top made the opponents like India, South Africa shivering down the spine while Liton Das looked compact. However, Soumya has been ruled out of the series due to a recent injury. The change in Tamim Iqbals traditional slap-bang approach to batting has created a ripple effect on the rest of the batting order. Tamim has been instrumental in all three ODI series victories that Bangladesh have managed to bag since the end of the World Cup. Add to this the calming influence of Shakib Al Hasan down the order, and you have a very effective batting unit in place.
But all these story of success could have been diminished unless they win the series against Zimbabwe who indeed have nothing to loss. They are no longer a dangerous opponent for Bangladesh since 2006. Bangladesh have been dominating them for long, apart from occasional hiccup and the winning-loss ratio now stands 36-28 in 64 matches in Bangladeshs favour. All of the Bangladesh players however believed just the natural game is enough to down Zimbabwe. We have been doing well against them for a long time. We will be playing at home so we will try to dominate against them, said Bangladesh ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. In world cricket, no opponent is easy but if we could play our natural game, well win against them, said Nasir Hossain.
After a painfully long stretch of disappointments in international cricket, the Bangladesh cricket team has finally found a winning formula. The change in fortune has begun at home. But with the kind of potential shown by some of the youngsters, Bangladesh can seriously consider prospects of getting into the top bracket of international cricket very soon. But now its the time to ensure that they would avoid the hitch to win against Zimbabwe with absolute domination in three-match ODI series and two T20 Internationals.
