Bangladesh touched town in Brisbane Friday for the all-important game against Zimbabwe at the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
The journey has been mixed so far for the Tigers in this T20 World Cup as they registered a much-needed victory over the Netherlands but then succumbed to heavy defeat against South Africa at Sydney Cricket Ground.
The heavy bashing against the Proteas will dent some of the momentum Bangladesh had achieved from the win over the Dutch but they need to regroup and focus on their third match and produce a compact team performance to grab victory.
Brisbane's part for the Tigers in this campaign has become a very important phase as they will face a spirited Zimbabwe who beat Pakistan in a nail-biter last Thursday.
Zimbabwe have become a fiercely competitive side in recent months and played some good cricket.
Bangladesh lost to Zimbabwe in the three-match T20 International series at their backyard just a few months ago and the Africans will give a tough fight to the Tigers in the coming match as well.
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Bangladesh have never played at the Gabba, Brisbane before. No international match nor any practice session either.
Bangladesh team had their two official practice matches here in Brisbane prior to the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup but those matches were held at Allan Border field.
Bangladesh lost to Afghanistan in the first warm-up before the South Africa game was washed out.
After reaching Brisbane Friday afternoon, the team went to visit the Gabba and observed the main ground and facilities there.
Skipper Shakib and Co observed the wickets and conditions and talked with the groundsmen at the Gabba.
Bangladesh will have an optional practice session at the famous venue Saturday on the eve of their Zimbabwe game.
The game against South Africa was kind of a rollercoaster ride for the Tigers as, in both innings, the first over start was flying only to later fade away.
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Opening batting was a major concern for Bangladesh in the last few months in T20Is but Soumya Sarkar and Nazmul Hossain Shanto gave a flying start.
That however, lasted only 12 balls as both the openers failed to make it count into a bigger innings, just the way South African counterparts Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw did.
Batting coach Jamie Siddons admitted that his charges have to be more smarter at the middle and should capitalize the good start into a notable innings to make proper impact and build a good total on the board.
“I think Soumya played some good shots but he got to be smarter and Shanto got to be smarter and bat longer, at the moment they are getting quick runs and getting out,” Siddons said after the match at the SCG last Thursday.
From a batting point of view Bangladesh need to step up and Siddons said the batting unit is working on that.
The match against Zimbabwe will be a good test for the Tigers and they need to come out full guns blazing to give the team a lift.
“We did some really good things in New Zealand leading up (to the T20 World Cup) and did some good things in United Arab Emirates. Our first thing was to address our starts and we have addressed that quite well. Getting 40s and 50s in our starts and first six overs have been addressed. Now we are looking at seven to 15 overs which we are not doing well,” Siddons concluded.
