Bangladesh cricket team will have two opponents to play Monday evening in the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup.
The Tigers got off to a winning start after beating Sri Lanka by two wickets, and will aim to maintain the run when they face South Africa at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
Alongside dealing with the formidable Proteas, the Bangladesh cricketers will also have to solve the puzzle of the drop-in surfaces.
The wickets in New York are the same as a normal 22-yard surface around the world.
But after being kept covered in a steel tray, its behavior is different to the other ones, despite that it is maintained as usual when laid in the ground.
International Cricket Council thought of having such pitches as Nassau County was picked as a venue for the grand event with only months to spare and 106 days to prepare.
There was simply no time to prepare traditional cricket pitches.
There was not enough trial as well and the Bangladesh-India official warm-up game at the venue was the first proper match here.
With such unpredictable wickets to play on, the participating teams who have played in the brand new international venue has complained both on and off record to the ICC.
The world cricket governing body did not take time to react on the matter and showed concern through official statement.
Nassau County has so far hosted five matches in the event, including the India-Pakistan clash Sunday. Only once has a team scored more than 130 runs here.
The third game, between Canada and Ireland, saw the Canadians post 137. In pursuit of the target, the Irish were restricted to 124.
In the last encounter, India batted first and struggled to 119.
And though at one point the winning prediction of the game suggested Pakistan had 92% chance of victory, India finished as the winners.
Bangladesh’s worry is amplified by their underperforming top-order batters. The men in red and green have been struggling in this aspect for a good time now and are desperate to find the cure.
Wicketkeeper-batter Liton Das put aside some of the concerns after scoring a 36-run innings in victory against the Lankans.
But worries remain with Soumya Sarkar and captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto.
Towhid Hridoy is in the spotlight as he keeps growing as a big hitter in the middle-order.
Speaking of the top-order dilemma, Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha while briefing the media in New York Sunday said: “I am expecting better performance. Two or three games ago, we had a 100-run partnership. Lately, we have been inconsistent. It is a difficult format to take time to get in form. You have to get going from the start. Confidence plays big part in T20 cricket. Some of the batters are short of runs. They train well, but it is the lack of confidence due to lack of runs. The good thing is, Liton spent time in the middle to score runs. He played according to the conditions. We are expecting more from them.”
Bangladesh can trust their bowling attack.
Fast bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman were impressive in the previous match but it was young leg-spinner Rishad Hossain who stole the show.
The 21-year old wrist spinner finished with three wickets for 22 runs, an effort that won him the Player-of-the-Match award.
