Tigers leave for Lanka tomorrow
Friday, 15 June 2007
A 15-member Bangladesh Cricket team, led by skipper Mohammad Ashraful, leaves the city for Sri Lanka tomorrow (Saturday) to play three Tests and three ODIs, reports UNB.
During the two-month visit, Bangladesh will play the first Test match on June 25-29, the second on July 3-7, both at Colombo, and the third and final Test on July 11-15 at Kandy.
After the Test series, touring Bangladesh will also play the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka - the first on July 20, the second on July 22 and the third on July 24, all in Colombo.
"We'll try to play all the five days in the Test matches," said newly appointed skipper Ashraful while speaking at a press conference at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) in the city Thursday.
He said: "We underwent rigorous practice for a week before the tour.
We gave particular emphasis on batting to correct our mistakes in the past."
The ace batsman said Bangladesh made substantial improvement in one-day cricket over the last 13 months.
"Our last series against India was not good, but the boys have self-confidence to do well in Sri Lanka", he added.
Asked about the reason behind his confidence ahead of the tour, he said: "The team is comprised both experienced and young cricketers. Our mutual understanding is also very good, which will be a plus point for us."
Interim coach Shaun Willams, for whom the Sri Lanka tour will be his first assignment for Bangladesh, said it is a great opportunity for him and he is hopeful of achieving something good in the ensuing series with the young team.
Bangladesh will learn more form the series, he said, adding that Sri Lanka have tremendous home record, "but if we play well, we may as well achieve something."
Team manager Ali Asif Khan was present at the press conference.
Test squad: Mohammad Ashraful (Captain), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (Vice Captain), Habibul Bashar, Javed Omer, Mehrab Hossain (Junior), Shahriar Nafees, Rajin Saleh, Shakib-Al Hasan, Khaled Mashud, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Mohammed Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Sharif and Mushfiqur Rahim.
Players to join the ODI Squad: Aftab Ahmed, Tamim Iqbal, Tushar Imran, Farhad Reza and Mahmudullah Riyad.
During the two-month visit, Bangladesh will play the first Test match on June 25-29, the second on July 3-7, both at Colombo, and the third and final Test on July 11-15 at Kandy.
After the Test series, touring Bangladesh will also play the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka - the first on July 20, the second on July 22 and the third on July 24, all in Colombo.
"We'll try to play all the five days in the Test matches," said newly appointed skipper Ashraful while speaking at a press conference at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) in the city Thursday.
He said: "We underwent rigorous practice for a week before the tour.
We gave particular emphasis on batting to correct our mistakes in the past."
The ace batsman said Bangladesh made substantial improvement in one-day cricket over the last 13 months.
"Our last series against India was not good, but the boys have self-confidence to do well in Sri Lanka", he added.
Asked about the reason behind his confidence ahead of the tour, he said: "The team is comprised both experienced and young cricketers. Our mutual understanding is also very good, which will be a plus point for us."
Interim coach Shaun Willams, for whom the Sri Lanka tour will be his first assignment for Bangladesh, said it is a great opportunity for him and he is hopeful of achieving something good in the ensuing series with the young team.
Bangladesh will learn more form the series, he said, adding that Sri Lanka have tremendous home record, "but if we play well, we may as well achieve something."
Team manager Ali Asif Khan was present at the press conference.
Test squad: Mohammad Ashraful (Captain), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (Vice Captain), Habibul Bashar, Javed Omer, Mehrab Hossain (Junior), Shahriar Nafees, Rajin Saleh, Shakib-Al Hasan, Khaled Mashud, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Mohammed Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Sharif and Mushfiqur Rahim.
Players to join the ODI Squad: Aftab Ahmed, Tamim Iqbal, Tushar Imran, Farhad Reza and Mahmudullah Riyad.