Bangladesh A team will embark on their African safari today for a month-long tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe.
And according to A team skipper Shuvagata Hom, the upcoming tour will be a challenging one for them, keeping the alien conditions in mind.
Shuvagata however, urged his charges to cash in on the opportunity of playing abroad ahead of the visit of the Zimbabwe side to Bangladesh later this year.
“Obviously it’s going to be a challenging tour for us as the wickets in South Africa are very different from what we play here at home. However, we are going to get some time for practice and I hope that we will be able to cope with the conditions. I am hopeful of giving our best,” Shuvagata told the media at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
As far as the captaincy issue is concerned, Shuvataga expressed his surprise over the decision. The batsman-allrounder was named skipper of the A side a few days ago with Soumya Sarkar as his deputy.
“Yes, I was a bit surprised after being named as the captain but I will try to give my best in order to fulfil the given responsibilities. We have a few practice matches in South Africa before the series against Zimbabwe at home. Our target is to win the series (against Zimbabwe) in both the formats,” he said.
The second-string Bangladesh team will contest two limited-over matches and a three-dayer against their South African counterparts while against Zimbabwe A, the tourists will play two four-day games and three one-dayers.
Shuvagata informed that he is eager to utilise his opportunities in order to stake a place for himself in the Bangladesh national squad for the forthcoming Zimbabwe series. The 28-year old was left out of the Tigers’ last Test squad against South Africa.
“I have had some improvements, both mentally and physically. Now, I target stretching my innings whenever I go out to bat. While with the ball, I always look for wickets,” he added.
Former Tigers captain and national selector Habibul Bashar on the other hand stated that he will be travelling to Africa to share his experience with the cricketers, among whom many are touring the continent for the very first time.
“It’s a different tour. These days, we play to win more often than not. I have some experience of the South African conditions as I have played there before quite a few times for Bangladesh. I have had a long career and I will try to share my knowledge and experience with the cricketers,” said Bashar.
