Familiar foes in unfamiliar land

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan speaks with the team during their visit to the Brisbane Cricket Ground on 28 October, 2022BCB

So, does the Bangladesh team want a repeat of what happened at the Bellerive Oval! A day after the team stepped foot in Brisbane, the memories of Hobart came back through the Bangladesh team’s use of an old ‘process’.

Before Bangladesh’s match against the Netherlands in Hobart, the Bangladesh team wasn’t given the chance to train at the match venue, Bellerive Oval, for even once. Even on the day before the match, the team’s training session was held at the Kingston Twin Oval Cricket Ground.

But what’s funny is that the Tigers did end up holding a training session at the venue, that too on the morning of the match. The team went to the Bellerive Oval hours before the match and had a lengthy net session. Not a casual batting session, a ‘serious’ one.

In Brisbane, the team is following the same process. On Sunday, they have a match against Zimbabwe at the Gabba (the popular nickname of the Brisbane Cricket Ground). But on Saturday, they have no training session scheduled at the match venue! At best, there could be an optional training session, which only two-four players would attend. At least, that was the decision till Friday evening local time.

After playing a practice match in Brisbane, the team travelled to Hobart, then Sydney before returning to Brisbane in just six days’ time. The cricketers were showing obvious signs of fatigue. That’s why, it was decided that the players would get a day’s rest from training.

But that doesn’t mean the Bangladesh team will see the Gabba for first time on the day of the match. They did that on Friday, immediately after reaching the capital of Queensland.

Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar after the team landed in Brisbane
Shamsul Hoque

After landing at the airport, the players got on the team bus and went to Gabba. They saw the huge Gabba ground and its pace friendly wicket first-hand and tried to get some insights on the pitch by talking with the groundsmen. Like in Hobart, the team will have a training session in the morning of the match. Only after bowling and batting at the nets in Gabba, will Shakib Al Hasan go for the toss.

Just like at the Bellerive Oval and the Sydney Cricket Ground, Bangladesh have never before played at the historic ground of Gabba. Bangladesh had a match at the venue in the 2015 ODI World Cup against Australia, but that match was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain. So, this will be Bangladesh’s first taste of playing a match at the Gabba.

The long wait of Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar and Taskin Ahmed, who were part of that 2015 World Cup squad, to play at this historic Australian cricket ground will end on Sunday.

The cricketers enjoyed the pleasant weather in Sydney after experiencing severe cold in Hobart. But the match in Sydney wasn’t as enjoyable, which they lost by 104 runs. The weather in Brisbane is warmer than Sydney. While leaving the airport on Friday, the heat outside felt similar to Dhaka’s. But there’s no doubt that this weather is ideal for playing cricket. As the opponent is Zimbabwe, there is added expectation that Bangladesh would win their second match in this World Cup at the Gabba.

The Gabba
Shamsul Hoque

However, the way a team like Pakistan lost to Zimbabwe just two days back, it would be a mistake for Shakib’s team to take Zimbabwe lightly on Sunday.

The Bangladesh team is not making that mistake, which was evident when they decided to go to the Gabba immediately after landing in the city. Everyone sat together and watched the Zimbabwe-Pakistan match on TV at the hotel.

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It’s true that Zimbabwe is Bangladesh’s most familiar opponent out of all the teams in Group 2. Bangladesh are also ahead in head-to-head record against Zimbabwe in T20Is. Although Bangladesh lost the previous T20I between the two teams, which was held in August of this year in Harare, in the 19 T20Is between the countries, Bangladesh have won 12 and lost the remaining seven.

So, Bangladesh should not feel any extra pressure even though they are up against a Zimbabwe team that has just defeated Pakistan. As the ground in Gabba is unknown entity for Zimbabwe too, the win against Pakistan will be Zimbabwe’s only source of confidence ahead of the match. The Bangladesh team just needs to give their all on the field.

Captain Shakib asked that from his team in Sydney. The players need to forget the disappointment of the defeat at the SCG and look ahead to the match against Zimbabwe. If the players listen to what Shakib told them after the match against South Africa, then the likes of Liton-Soumya would be able to put the defeat behind them when they take the field against Zimbabwe on Sunday.

*This appeared in the print edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ashfaq-Ul-Alam Niloy