Tinker-time for BCB think-tank
Having secured their place in the ODI tri-series final with two commanding wins over West Indies, Bangladesh may look to tinker with the playing eleven and assess the strength of their bench when they take on hosts Ireland, who have already been ruled out of the series, at the Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin today.
The match is scheduled to get underway at 3:45pm Bangladesh Standard Time.
Mashrafe bin Mortaza and his troops were clinical in both the fixtures against West Indies while the other match against Ireland was washed out without a ball being bowled.
Bangladesh, who are firmly on top of the points table with ten, are expected to make a few changes and experiment with different tactics in the dead rubber against Ireland, keeping the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup in the United Kingdom in mind.
The young Mohammad Saifuddin was rested in the previous encounter with West Indies seeing as the pace bowling all-rounder was suffering from back pain. For that match, Saifuddin was replaced by Abu Jayed, who trained yesterday and is expected to feature against Ireland today.
It has also been learnt that Bangladesh’s team management might re-examine opener Liton Das and Mosaddek Hossain, who are also a part of the Tigers’ 15-member World Cup squad.
The likes of Yasir Ali and Forhad Reza could also be in consideration as the team management have plenty of options to tinker with in the playing eleven for today’s match.
Rubel Hossain and Taskin Ahmed may also get a chance is the Tigers’ think tank deems it necessary to provide rest to any of the other fast bowlers -- Mustafizur Rahman, skipper Mashrafe and Jayed, who endured a poor ODI debut in the previous game against West Indies.
However, Bangladesh head coach Steve Rhodes will look to build on their momentum and keep their winning run intact with a win against a demoralised Ireland, who will surely eye a consolation victory.
Ireland were blown away in the series opener, where West Indies as the Caribbean team rode on a world record 365-run opening stand between Shai Hope and John Campbell to post 381 for three. The hosts lost that encounter by a huge 196-run margin.
Their second match, against Bangladesh, was washed out but William Porterfield and his troops did manage to put up a fighting 327 for five, courtesy of a century from Andy Balbirnie, against West Indies in the next game. Despite the big total though, Ireland still went on to lose the fixture by five wickets with their bowlers constantly disappointing.
Although rain had an influence earlier in the series, sunny weather was forecast for Dublin today, which is surely good news for cricket enthusiasts.
