Bangladesh young batter Towhid Hriody saw an
opportunity to perform better in the three-match T20 International series
against an Indian side, shortage of experience in International circuit.
The Indian cricket has been in a transition period in this format following
the retirement of the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja
who all played vital role in helping the side win T20 World Cup this year.
Bangladesh (644 caps) have a more experienced T20I squad than India (389
caps) in this series.
“First and foremost, we have the good opportunity to perform well and
obviously we want to win here,” Hriody said during the pre-match conference
at Gwalior today.
“We are not thinking anything other than a win. We’ll try to give our best to
overcome the hosts.”
In the 14 meeting between the two sides, Bangladesh lost 13 and won one,
which came on Indian soil in their 2019 series.
This time when the two sides met again in a series opener in Indian soil,
expectation was high on Bangladesh
.
“As I said earlier, we want to play to win the series. We want to put our
best performance,” He said adding that they want to kick off the series with
a victory and then take it match by match for a series victory for the first
time in this format against India.
Hriody, however, was reluctant to talk about the Indian side, who fielded a
young team by resting most of their senior players like Jasprit Bumrah,
Mohammed Siraj.
“When we play against any team, we don’t think who is in the team or who is
not. We always try to focus on ourselves. We try to maintain the process,” he
remarked.
“Yes, as you said this is an opportunity to beat India, I think we are
standing on good chance (to win). But the thing is not like that we’ve never
beaten any big team. It’s a format where there is nothing like big or small
team. The team which will perform better on given day, will win the match.”
Bangladesh will start their life without Shakib Al Hasan in this format for
the first time as the allrounder has re
cently announced his retirement.
The Tigers were used to get the service in both bowling and batting from
Shakib who indeed gave the side a cushion of playing an extra batter and
bowler.
Asked whether Shakib’s absence will jeopardize their combination, Hriody
said: “Everyone has to leave someday. We’ll definitely miss Shakib bhai but
we are hoping to make up for his absence and overcome it well.”
The Gwalior, a city of India’s Madhya Pradesh, famous for witnessing the
first double hundred in ODI cricket by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar,
hosting an International game for the first time since 2010.
But the venue Captain Roop Singh Stadium in which Tendulkar hit that historic
double century is not hosting the match, rather newly built Shrimant
Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, will host its first ever International
game.
According to Hriody, the wicket will be slow and low here.
“We have practiced two days here. According to the information, derived from
the ground staff and domestic matches, f
rom what we have understood that it
will be slow and low wicket.”
Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha