With the series opener against Australia – set to be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur – on the horizon, Bangladesh will be hoping to shed their long standing reputation for providing spin friendly tracks. That change was hinted at in the surface for the first match, where a visible layer of grass remained following a period on covers before the game.
While the team want to develop confidence on suitable wickets, rather than bowlers themselves looking for slow turning tracks while captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz said. And, with the ODI World Cup coming up on better surfaces, that is what might have encouraged a change of approach according to him – this recent success in Bangladesh.
It has often been the home of low-scoring battles and pitches which are massively one-sided in favour of spin bowlers over many years. But according to Mehidy, perception is no longer correct. Citing examples of recently played matches in Dhaka where much better wickets facilitated both batsmen and bowlers, he said.
The skipper of Bangladesh had said that ” Well big thing is when you perform well, your team grows. Batters, he believes, will learn to bat on truer surfaces, and bowlers are forced to take wickets in a variety of conditions. Developing that versatility, he added, could be crucial to Bangladesh’s hopes at big international events.
Bangladesh’s recent confident performances, including a record Test victory over Pakistan on that fine batting pitch, have added weight behind this tactic. That only served to cement the view that they could win, with a bowling attack built on adequacy rather than spin-friendly locales.
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Australia, on the other hand, were also preparing for a very different challenge from one teams used to expect in Mirpur. Josh Inglis, one of the stars for Australia had also earlier explained how they are some predictions on the behaviour of pitches in Dhaka and in Kolkata compared to some recent ODIs when Bangladesh visited New Zealand and that seam bowlers have been assisted more often than not from those conditions especially with the new ball.
They had more grass, and early in the innings offered movement making them less spin-dominated than previous years, Inglis said. Although Australia have tailored their preparations accordingly, he insisted that the visitors are prepared to cope with any conditions they face.
The ODI series shapes up as an interesting examination with both teams expecting a closer contest, while Bangladesh hope to push themselves along in their development toward the next World Cup.
