Ahead of the three-match One Day International (ODI) series against hosts South Africa starting on Friday, Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal said they are eager to change the history of doing well against the Proteas in their backyard, reports UNB.
The first match of the series will take place on Friday at 5:00pm (Bangladesh time) at SuperSport Park, Centurion. The other two matches will be played on 20 and 23 March at The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg and SuperSport Park, Centurion respectively.
“All of our tours to South Africa were so tough for us,” Tamim said in the pre-series media briefing. “We are looking to change that fate, and to do that, we have to be ready to face a tough challenge and be courage.”
Before this series, Bangladesh took on the Proteas in 19 matches in South Africa and failed to win any of those matches in all the formats of cricket. Overall, Bangladesh played 40 international matches against South Africa and won just four matches.
They will attack us from all fronts. So we have to be ready to take this challenge. We have beaten them in the World Cup. There is no reason for not doing well in this condition. We have to make a good start
The venue of the first match is traditionally heaven for the batters. The average total of the last 10 completed ODI innings in this venue is more than 246 runs. But Tamim said the statistics are nothing if the players don’t play well in the field.
“As the history suggests, it’s a good venue for the batters. But the main thing is to play well in the field. We have to keep this truth in mind. They will attack us from all fronts. So we have to be ready to take this challenge. We have beaten them in the World Cup. There is no reason for not doing well in this condition. We have to make a good start,” Tamim said.
This ODI series is a part of the World Cup Super League. If Bangladesh can secure some points from this match, it would help them to secure the World Cup as one of the top eight teams, who will go through.
In this challenge, Bangladesh are going to get the service of Shakib Al Hasan who joined the team turning his earlier decision of withdrawing himself from the tour.
“Shakib is all set to take the field for Bangladesh,” Tamim insisted on Thursday. “We have discussed how we can play our best cricket here. Every member of the team is eager to play good cricket. Apart from this, we have nothing to think about.”