Bangladesh ready to live up to expectation

Bangladesh are facing India in the first of the three match GrameenPhone ODI series at Mirpur Sher E Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) in Dhaka tomorrow (Thursday, May 10th).

This is the first time the two teams are facing each other after the historic World Cup encounter at Queens Park Oval in Trinidad, where Bangladesh toppled India by 5 wickets to send India home from the first round of the World Cup.

Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said they are ready to live up to the high expectations of fans in the ODI series.

"We know the expectation is high after the successful World Cup campaign and we are also ready to meet that expectation," said Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar at a pre-match conference at the SBNS Wednesday.

Bangladesh ready to live up to expectation © Reuters

Bangladesh is playing at home and Bashar believes this will help Bangladesh to raise their game.

"We have the belief that we can beat any team if we play to our potential. India are a good side and we can't afford to take them lightly just because we beat them in the World Cup. But playing at home is always an advantage," said Bashar.

India are also keen to avenge their World Cup defeat and want to concentrate only on playing good cricket. The Indian team is under scrutiny after their World Cup exit and their build-up to the series suffered many problems. Recent revelations about the divisions within the team by an Indian TV channel is the latest blow to the Indian morale.

However, Indian captain Rahul Dravid wants to put everything related to the World Cup behind and start afresh for the ODI series.

"We want to put the disappointment of the World Cup behind us and move on. We look forward to getting on the park to play some good cricket".

Dravid praised Bangladesh for their recent development but promised a professional display to outshine Bangladesh.

"Bangladesh are obviously a very improved team and they showed that at the World Cup. They are very competitive, but we will be equal to the challenge," said Dravid in the pre-match press conference.

Both India and Bangladesh have been hit by injury blows. India?s promising youngster Manoj Tiwary is already out of the ODI series after suffering a shoulder injury, while Bangladesh?s leading paceman Mashrafe Mortaza remains a doubt for tomorrow?s match.

Bangladesh (from): Habibul Bashar (captain), Mohammad Ashraful, Javed Omar, Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Saqibul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza, Syed Rasel, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Mohammad Rafique, Farhad Reza.

India (from): Rahul Dravid (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Mahendra Dhoni, Dinesh Karthick, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar.

Umpires : Ashoka De Silva (Sri Lanka), Nadir Shah (Bangladesh)

India arrive Dhaka for GrameenPhone series

A 15-member Indian cricket team, led by captain Rahul Dravid, arrived Dhaka amidst heavy security in the early Monday morning to play GremeenPhone ODI and Test series against Bangladesh.

India's coach-cum-manager Ravi Shastri Monday promised to play hard cricket against Bangladesh in the one-day series beginning on May 10.
It's not a revenge series - Dravid

It's not a revenge series - Dravid ©Cricinfo

"We know how well Bangladesh played in the World Cup and there is a very clear message for Bangladesh. We came here to play hard cricket," said Shastri on arrival at Zia International Airport, Dhaka.

The Indian skipper Rahul Dravid, who is expecting to be fit before the first ODI, said all the players are eagerly awaiting the series and he expects it to be an interesting one. "I am looking forward to this tour in Bangladesh. I strongly believe, we've the capability to perform well and it is going to be an interesting series," he said.

"I have told the players that the main challenge is to bring out our best performance. All the players are eagerly waiting for this series and I am sure they will prove their worth," Dravid added.

He however dismissed the talk of revenge and promised to play some positive cricket in their first outing after their world cup debacle.

"I don't really believe in revenge and there is no place for it in our book. What has a place is for us to show the true potential and play really very good cricket. And I think that's what we are looking to do here," said Dravid.

India will play the first two one-dayers in Dhaka on May 10 and May 12 and the third one in Chittagong on May 15.

India ODI Squad
Rahul Dravid (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, M S Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwari, Dinesh Mongia, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zahir Khan and R P Singh.

Tigers set to play practice match to acclimatize with home condition

Tigers will play a practice match today (Sunday) at Mirpur Sher E Bangla National Stadium as part of their preparation for up-coming three match ODI series against India. The match will allow the cricketers to acclimatize with the home condition after a three month long Caribbean tour.

National cricketers will play against a team consists of centrally contracted players, Bangladesh A team and academy players.

Bangladesh A team captain Tushar Imran, former skipper Khaled Mashud, Rajin Saleh, Nafis Iqbal, Alok Kapali, Zunaed Siddiqe, Nazmus Sadat, Sajedul Islam and Dollar Mahmud will feature in the team that is expected to provide a tough challenge for the Tigers.

The Tigers had played a good number of international matches for last couple of months but the chief selector Faruque Ahmed believes the practice match will provide an ideal opportunity for the players to get an idea about the pitch.

"There is nothing better than playing matches. I think this preparation match gives the players an idea about the surface in Mirpur," said Faruque when asked about the practice match.

No practice match is scheduled for the touring India team before the start of the ODI series on May 10.

Pay Disputes Hinder Indian Plans For Bangladesh Tour

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), one of the richest cricket boards in world cricket, have not paid salaries to the centrally contracted players for the last seven months.

The news emerged as the players refused to sign new contracts ahead of the Bangladesh tour until the old payments are released.

BCCI have retreated from their efforts to get the new contracts signed and assured cricketers that their salaries for the last seven months will be paid after the Bangladesh tour. Some of the senior players compared the scenario with Zimbabwe, where payment disputes resulted in boycotts and the eventual decline in cricketing standards.

According to Times Now, a leading Indian news agency, the cricketers are very upset over the recent developments, but the gag order and fear of being targeted after the 'World Cup debacle' has forced them to keep quiet.

Players have not received any payments for the following tournaments from the board:

- ICC Champions Trophy in India: October 2006
- Tour of South Africa: Nov 2006 to Jan 2007
- India-West Indies ODI series: January 2007
- India-Sri Lanka ODI series: February 2007
- World Cup: March-April 2007

BCB announce match officials for GrameenPhone India tour of Bangladesh 2007

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have announced the match officials for the up-coming GrameenPhone India tour of Bangladesh. ICC Emirates international panel umpires Ashoka De Silva, Enamul Huq Moni and Nadir Shah will be in charge of the 3 match ODI series which starts from 10th May 2007.

Nadir Shah will stand with Sri Lankan Ashoka in the first ODI while Enamul Huq will join him for the last two matches. Akhtar Uddin Shaheen from Bangladesh will act as the TV umpire for the ODI series.

The two match test series which starts from 18th May will be officiated by ICC elite panel umpires Daryl Harper and Billy Doctrove. Nadir Shah and Enamul Huq will act as the TV umpires for the test series.

Roshan Mahanama will act as the ICC match referee for the GrameenPhone India tour of Bangladesh 2007.

Tour Itinerary and Officials

Match	Date & Venue	Match Referee	Field Umpire	TV Umpire	Reserve Umpire
1st ODI	10 May 2007, Dhaka	Mr. Roshan Mahanama	Mr. Nadir Shah Mr. Asoka De Silva	Mr. A.F.M. Akhtar Uddin	Mr. Sayed Mahbub Ullah
2nd ODI	12 May 2007, Dhaka	Mr. Roshan Mahanama	Mr. Enamul Hoque Moni Mr. Asoka De Silva	Mr. A.F.M. Akhtar Uddin	Mr. Sayed Mahbub Ullah
3rd ODI	15 May 2007, Chittagong	Mr. Roshan Mahanama	Mr. Enamul Hoque Moni Mr. Asoka De Silva	Mr. A.F.M. Akhtar Uddin	Mr. Jahangir Alam
1st Test	18 - 22 May 2007, Chittagong	Mr. Roshan Mahanama	Mr. Daryl Harper Mr. Billy Doctrove	Mr. Enamul Hoque Moni	Mr. Jahangir Alam
2nd Test	25 - 29 May 2007, Dhaka	Mr. Roshan Mahanama	Mr. Daryl Harper Mr. Billy Doctrove	Mr. Nadir Shah	Mr. Monzur Rahman

Pakistan Win Academy Cup

The Pakistan Cricket Academy has emerged as the champion of tri-nation Academy Cup by defeating hosts Bangladesh Academy by the narrow margin of five runs at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan Ground in Savar, Dhaka on Monday (May 1st).

After having been put in to bat, the Pakistan Academy were all out for a modest 237 runs on the last ball of their allotted fifty overs. In reply, Bangladesh were dismissed for 232 runs in 48.5 overs, the Pakistan team winning with just seven balls to spare.

Bangladesh skipper Mehrab Hossain was instrumental in the final with a brilliant all-round performance but could not secure a win for Bangladesh.

With his slow left-arm bowling, Mehrab first captured four wickets for 57 runs and then hit a brilliant 75 off 97 balls, but three run outs in the middle overs cost Bangladesh a chance of victory.

Bangladesh opening batsman Junaid Siddique smashed 69 off 63 balls with 11 boundaries and 1 six as Bangladesh raced to 112-2 after just 19 overs but paceman Najaf Shah (3-37) and medium-fast Junaid Zia (2-34) of the Pakistan academy restricted the middle order to ensure a Paksitan win.

Earlier, Afaq Rahim with a knock of 55 off 62 balls and Khalid Latif 31 off 57 balls lifted Pakistan Academy to 237 which in the end proved enough to lift the trophy. For Bangladesh, right-arm medium-pacer Mahmudullah Riyad took five wickets for 42 runs while skipper Mehrab picked up 4-57.

Sri Lanka Academy was the other team in the competition.

Bashar set to retire from ODIs after India series

Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar is going to retire from One-day Internationals in a bid to extend his Test career. Bashar revealed his decision in a press conference yesterday (Monday) and hinted that the upcoming home series against India is going to be his last outing in the shorter version of the game.

Bashar is set to retire from ODI © Reuters

"What I want to concentrate fully on is Test cricket to prolong my career and that's why I'm thinking about my one-day career, I want to give the young guys more opportunities," said Bashar.

"I will officially announce my plan before the India tour but I want to convey my decision to my teammates first," Bashar added.

However, the 34 year-old most successful ODI captain of Bangladesh ruled out speculations that his poor form with the bat in the World Cup is the reason behind his decision.

"It's not that I have had a very poor show with the bat in the World Cup rather I had been thinking before the World Cup. I even talked with some of my colleagues and well-wishers about my plan before leaving the country for the World Cup," he said.

In the press conference Bashar admitted that he failed to live up with the expectations of fans in one-day cricket.

"I must admit that I have not batted well in one-day cricket throughout my career. But interestingly I have had very good performances for the preceding year except the World Cup," he added.

Bashar has a remarkably good Test record with 2838 runs in 42 matches including three hundreds at an average of 34.60, which is in stark contrast with his one-day record. Bashar managed 2125 runs in 109 matches at a modest average of 21.68.

The three match GrameenPhone one-day series against India starts from 10th May at Sher E Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka.