Bangladesh Cricket Team are on a roll since the last 2 years and their ODI performance has improved by leaps and bounds in recent times that it’s suffice to say that Bangladesh is no longer a minnow but it could very well be the Dark Horse in this 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Bangladesh had reached the Quarter finals in the 2015 Cricket World Cup and in the Semi finals in the 2017 Champions Trophy. Co-incidentally they lost both these games to the same opponent – India. In recent times, Bangladesh vs India contests have been very close affairs and literally it came down to the last ball finish especially in two finals in which Bangladesh recently played against India – one in the Nidahas Trophy final in Sri Lanka and the second – Asia Cup 2018 final in UAE.
Their recent win against West Indies in Ireland will definitely boost their chances of making a good show at this World Cup according to sports betting websites.
Bangladesh possess an uncanny ability to come up good in big matches and in the past they have upset some very big teams in the World Cup stages, England, Pakistan, India have all been victims of Bangladesh’s fighting spirit in World Cups and the current squad also boosts of some very experienced Bangladeshi players.
Led by 35 year old Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh is the most experienced team in this World Cup, in terms of most ODIs played by the players playing this World Cup. Currently, the bangla tigers are the sole team in the world to have five cricketers who have played 150 plus ODIs.
Along with Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh also boosts of the World’s best all-rounder in Shakib al-Hasan, Wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim and Opener Tamim Iqbal followed by Mahmudullah in the middle order. These 5 experienced players who have more than 3+ World Cup experiences will be the looking to guide their team in the big games.
Bangladesh World Cup 2019 Squad – Strengths
The combined experience of 150+ ODI appearances for Mashrafe, Shakib, Tamim, Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah Riyad will be pivotal for Bangladesh Team and this experience will help the team especially when they are setting up a target or chasing high scores.
Mashrafe Mortaza is a wily skipper who marshalls his team well and is known to make intelligent changes, setting aggressive fields and attacking the opposition team all the time plus he is a good bowler as well and can take crucial wickets or stop the run flow with his medium pace.
In Shakib al-Hasan, Bangladesh has the anchor batsman in their middle order and Shakib is a useful left arm spinner as well and can be quite handy when it comes to blocking the runs and taking wickets.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah support Shakib in the middle order and both are good runners and can hit the ball a long especially Mahmudullah who can be pretty useful in slogging and taking charge during the slog overs. Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar are experienced openers and can be quite destructive on their day.
On the bowling front – Bangladesh will look at their premier left arm fast bowler the young Mustafizur Rahman aka “the fizz” to trouble the opposition and take crucial wickets with his pinpoint yorkers and swinging variations.
Mustafiz will be supported by the young off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz and all-rounder Mosaddek Hossain to support the middle overs stage.
Bangladesh World Cup 2019 Squad – Weakness
Bangladesh team has a tendency to get carried away and throw away matches from potential match-winning situations. They tend to get over-zealous especially against the big teams and as a result they can get carried away and lose up the game from a winning situation. The recent examples are Nidahas Trophy final, ICC World T20 2016 match against India
As described in many popular best sports books that when a team can keep their cool they can win big – Same applies for Bangladesh team – If they can keep their nerves under check and play according to a plan and rely on the experience of their senior players, Bangladesh can turn up to be like Sri Lanka during 1996 World Cup and can really go a long way and might even be the Dark Horse which can go on to cause major upsets and can even win the World Cup 2019…Who Knows! But you can’t write this team off as minnows..Not anymore.
Bangladesh World Cup 2019 – Key Matches
Bangladesh vs England on 8th June – England would look to avenge their 2015 World cup defeat by 15 runs.
Bangladesh vs Australia on 20th June – Bangladesh Batting vs Aussie Bowlers
Bangladesh vs India on 2nd July – Bangladesh look to avenge their 2015 World Cup Quarter final defeat
Bangladesh Cricket World Cup 2019 Squad.
Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Abu Jayed, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun (wk), Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan (vc), Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal.
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