Bangladesh T20I team will be desperate for a win when they take on Zimbabwe in their third Group 2 game in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup.
The two teams will meet at The Gabba in Brisbane Sunday afternoon.
Bangladesh will battle for a victory to keep alive their chances in the tournament with two big matches to spare – against India and Pakistan.
The side have played two games in the tournament – starting with a win against the Netherlands by nine runs before conceding a heavy defeat to South Africa by 104 runs in Sydney.
The contrast between the two matches was vast.
Against the Dutch Bangladesh were on top both in spirit and play while against the Proteas, they simply looked lost.
There was failure with bowling and batting unit, despite a good start with both.
Apart from the pressure of improving their game a great deal, Bangladesh also need to tackle the aggression that will come from the highly motivated Zimbabwe.
The Africans in their previous game secured an outstanding one-run win against giants Pakistan.
The win keeps Zimbabwe well and truly in the hunt for a place in the semi-finals after having already gained a fortunate point against South Africa in their opening fixture of the Super 12s.
Bangladesh have been struggling in T20I cricket in recent times and amid the festive mood of Halloween here in Australia, the ghost of defeat against Zimbabwe will surely haunt them for a long time to come.
Bangladesh technical consultant Sridharan Sriram in the pre-match conference in Brisbane informed that they have set a plan going into the game.
“I don't think I need to - we definitely have a plan. But I think we respect Zimbabwe, their amazing performance again Pakistan. We watched each and every ball of it, and the way they pulled it off against Pakistan is unbelievable. Full credit to them, respect,” said Sriram.
Zimbabwe perhaps are one opponent Bangladesh get to play with the most every season.
Bangladesh are usually on top with wins but as it has happened, the African nation has been doing quite well of late.
Bangladesh during their tour of Zimbabwe in July had conceded a 2-1 T20I series defeat against the hosts.
“I have never been a part of a Zimbabwe-Bangladesh clash, so I'm not going to comment on that, how frequently we play, but I think the boys are well prepared. They know their opposition. I think knowing their opposition is one thing we will really stress on. We do our homework, and we pride ourselves on that, and I think the boys know their opposition very well,” said former India cricketer Sriram.
Bangladesh in the game are likely to have one change with Yasir Ali Chowdhury coming into the side in place of Mehedi Hasan Miraz.
As far as the pitch and weather are concerned at the Gabba - teams batting first have won four out of six T20Is, with 168 being the average first-innings score, and the forecast shows no rain.
This is the first time Bangladesh would get to play at this iconic cricket venue.
Bangladesh XI (probable):
Soumya Sarkar, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Liton Das, Shakib al Hasan, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Mosaddek Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud