The absence of key Bangladesh cricketers Mushfiqur Rahim and pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman in the last two matches of the Twenty20 international series will give Zimbabwe the edge. The visiting side’s head coach Dav Whatmore made such a statement yesterday as the two sides prepare to face each other in the third game tomorrow.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiq was ruled out of the rest of the series after he incurred a right hamstring injury during the second T20I last Sunday. The right-handed batsman was forced to retire hurt and in his place came paceman Taskin Ahmed for the final two matches of the series.
The national selectors also decided to rest Mustafizur, keeping in mind the Tigers’ busy schedule in the first half of this year, and Whatmore is of the opinion that the tourists will benefit from the absence of the duo.
“They will be a little weak, given they won’t have Mushfiq and Mustafizur and we need to make use of that,” Whatmore told the media yesterday.
“We are preparing the team in that way. We are looking to bounce back playing good cricket in the next two matches,” he said.
Zimbabwe arrived in Bangladesh with the aim of forgetting their recent woes which includes a series defeat in both the ODIs and T20Is against Associates Afghanistan recently.
Their twin losses in the first two T20Is against the Tigers have only worsened their plight but Whatmore defended his charges, saying, “My players play well, to be honest, but the trouble is we are not being able to put up partnerships. It is hard to make your team reach the ambition when the combination goes wrong. At the moment we are trying to shuffle and try different things to find out the best.”
Whatmore concluded by saying the visitors are making all possible moves in order to come back in the series.
