Bangladesh national cricket team is scheduled to travel to Rawalpindi on February 4 to play the first match of the two-match Test series against Pakistan, reported Bangladeshi media.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has already announced the 14-member squad for the Test. All the cricketers who are in the Test squad are playing matches in the ongoing Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL). So there has been no need for any separate practice for the Pakistan Test. They will depart for Pakistan at the end of the first round of the BCL on Monday (February 3rd).
Bangladeshi team has failed to do well in the last two Test series. They also lost two World Test Championship matches against India after losing the only Test to Afghanistan. So the Test series against Pakistan will not be easy for the Tigers.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) selector Habibul Bashar Sumon spoke to reporters in Dhaka about the upcoming Test series. “There is no substitute for playing the best cricket against Pakistan,” he said and added, “We could not start the World Test Championship well. Maybe we can come back with this series. The task will not be so easy. Pakistan itself is a very strong team on their own ground. We have to play our best cricket. Everyone in the team is in good form. We’re going to Pakistan with everything. We have to play our best cricket in Pakistan.”
The toughest task against Pakistan will be to tackle their pacers. So to play well, the batsmen have to take responsibility first, just like Bashar said, “This is a challenge, there is nothing to worry about. Such a situation must be dealt with. When you go out, you can’t tell a team that you play with three or four pacers. If they play with five pacers we have to face that and that’s our challenge. Anyone who plays with us will play with three or four pacers. If we want to do well in the World Test Championship then we have to do well in this.” “If you want to do well in the Test Championship, there is no option to win.”