Grameenphone Test Series Bangladesh-Srilanka

Opportunity beckons for Bangladesh
mehedi
Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons gave a long look at the pitch prior to his charges' practice session ahead of the today's tri-nation final at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

It's however the same surface where Bangladesh pulled off the scintillating five-wicket victory over their fellow finalists Sri Lanka in the last league match to confirm the final berth.

Siddons would definitely love to see his captain Mohammad Ashraful call the toss correctly again to allow his bowlers to take the early advantage in the foggy conditions.

The Australian however was more concerned with his poor top order batting and it seemed that the Tigers coach was well aware with the fact that it would be unwise to expect special efforts in every match like Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza did in the last league match to achieve a tough challenge.

Rather there would be need for all the players to play their part and thus respond as a team if the Tigers want to rewrite history by winning the tri-nation tournament as previous record suggests that the Bangladesh goes into long hibernation after one good win.

Which was the reason why despite the victory the Bangladesh coach sounded cautious with the poor top order batting and the poor running between wickets, which has become a new headache for the team. It's too tough for any team to afford the luxury of two to three run outs in every match and the way Tamim Iqbal fell victim of it was really ridiculous.

"May be it happened because of nervousness but we should ensure one thing that we will not lose wickets in the first 20 overs," said Siddons while talking with the reporters yesterday.

The Bangladesh coach however was optimistic about his team's chance in the final. "Hope everything will fall into place tomorrow (Friday)," he hoped.

On the eve of the final the question remains: can Bangladesh win two big matches on a trot to make a history? And Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful had to face the harsh question whether they will take a long leisure after a fine win against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

"We are not thinking about what we did in the last match rather we want to take it as a new game. It has not happened that we have won two consecutive big matches but it doesn't necessarily mean it will not happen forever," said a confident Ashraful in a pre-match press conference.

"It is a good opportunity for us as we are in the final. Our confidence was down a bit after the first match but we have bounced back with the win against Sri Lanka. If the eleven of us bring our best cricket in the match and do well in all three departments then we can surely hope for a positive result," he added.

He also echoed his coach's sentiment that their top order needs to come out from the poor showing.

"We have to show improvement in the top-order. So far we have not managed a start which is very important. We need to make sure that if one of the top three gets set then he should bat as long as possible. A good start makes the job easier for the next batsmen coming in," Ashraful observed.

"Irrespective of the opposition we play every game to win. We realize that tomorrow we have a genuine chance if we do the process right and stick to the game plan. All of us want this year to be a big year for Bangladesh cricket. We want to compete well with the big teams and get positive results. Tomorrow is an opportunity for us to win a trophy and we are aware of that," he said.

It will be a new history if Bangladesh can lift the trophy but the Bangladesh captain know that in that case they have to prove that they are also 'consistent' sometimes.

TEAMS
BANGLADESH (from): Tamim Iqbal, Zunaed Siddiqui, Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Rokibul Hassan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (Wicketkeeper), Naeem Islam, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mahbubul Alam, Rubel Hossain, Nazmul Hossain

SRI LANKA (From): Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara (Wicketkeeper), Mahela Jayawardene (Captain), Angelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekera, Muttiah Muralidaran, Ajantha Mendis, Thilina Kandamby, Dilhara Fernando, Dhammika Prasad and Thilina Thushara Mirando
##taken from dailystar