After suffering a defeat against Sri Lanka in their second Super Four match on Saturday in Colombo, Bangladesh’s team management has already moved their attention to the forthcoming home series against New Zealand. This is because the Tigers’ chances of making it to the Asia Cup final are all but dead as a result of the loss.
During the post-match press conference on Saturday, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan expressed his desire to rest some key players for the upcoming three-match One-Day International series against New Zealand at home. This was done in order to avoid the risk of losing players to injuries in advance of the World Cup, which will be held in India beginning on October 5.
After their battle against Sri Lanka, the Bangladesh team is taking advantage of their time off before their next and final Super Four encounter, which will take place on September 15. The chances of Bangladesh advancing farther in the Asia Cup are extremely low, and they depend on a number of ifs, buts, and maybes falling in their favor.
Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim have both returned to their respective homes, and they are scheduled to meet the team in Colombo on September 13.
“We are fully aware of the specific motivation behind Mushfiqur’s actions [he traveled back to the country to be with his wife at the delivery of their second kid]. Shakib also took the vacation for personal reasons, although the details of those are unknown at this time, according to Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the CEO of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
According to selector Habibul Bashar, their primary challenge would be to maintain the players’ level of fitness in the lead up to the World Cup.
“We have not yet discussed the series against New Zealand. However, we need to take into consideration the amount of work that our fast bowlers put in. Bashar added that considering the demanding travel schedule of the World Cup, we need to think about how we can maintain some of our important players fresh before the huge event. “We must think about how we can keep some of our key players fresh before the mega event.”
Under the condition of anonymity, a board official shared the information that during the home series, the leading players will be permitted to take rests whenever they see fit. It is not entirely clear to us whether or not Shakib will also take a sabbatical. However, in an ideal situation, we might implement a rotation scheme, which would allow players to sit out one or two matches,” he explained.
The One-Day International matches against the New Zealand national team are scheduled to take place in Mirpur on September 21, 23, and 26.