Dhaka – Bangladesh National Cricket team will fly for Ireland on Wednesday morning to play a tri-nation series involving the hosts and West Indies as well as to play the ICC World Cup beginning in England on May 30.
After playing the tri-series in Ireland between May 5 and 17, Bangladesh will travel to England and Wales to play the ICC World Cup.
The Tigers will start their ICC World Cup campaign taking on South Africa on June 2 in London.
Bangladesh have so far played 32 matches in the last five World Cups and came out victorious in 11 matches featuring a creditable victory against Pakistan in their first World Cup Cricket in England 1999, against India and South Africa in 2007 in West Indies and a quarterfinal berth in the last World Cup in 2015 in Australia and New Zealand beating England.
In a pre-departure press conference on Monday, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza on Monday said the Tigers have the ability to win the World Cup if they play according to their ability.
“I don’t have any question (about the ability to win the World Cup). But the question is where we’re capable of scoring 320 or 330 on a regular basis. We didn’t do that many times in front of you or spectators but if we stay strong mentally in the World Cup, we’ll surely do that,” he told reporters.
It will be Bangladesh’s sixth appearance in the World Cup. In the previous edition in Australia and New Zealand, Bangladesh played quarterfinals for the first time in the history. But this time, the Tigers are upbeat to surpass the previous success.
“Since we have an experienced bunch of cricketers, we’re a balanced team now. Maximum of those who are relatively juniors also played at least a World Cup. But it doesn’t mean that we’re going to have a successful event ahead of us. We need to be united to do that,” Bangladesh captain further said.
In the remaining World Cup matches, Bangladesh will face New Zealand (June 5, London), England (June 8, Cardiff), Sri Lanka (June 11, Bristol), West Indies (June 17, Taunton), Australia (June 20, Nottingham), Afghanistan (June 24, Southampton), India (July 2, Birmingham), and Pakistan (July 5, London).
Along with the 15 members of the World Cup squad, Bangladesh going to Ireland with four more players — Taskin Ahmed, Farhad Reza, Nayeem Islam and Yasir Rabbi. Bangladesh captain said they got a golden chance to prove themselves in a greater stage.
Bangladesh World Cup squad: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mosaddek Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (captain), Mohammad Saifuddin, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman and Abu Jayed Rahi.UNB
