'Revenge series for India, not us' - Bashar

[TheWatcher]

India Times

BRIDGETOWN, April 17: Bangladesh’s World Cup hopes have come crashing. But their skipper Habibul Bashar is already looking ahead__at the upcoming India series to build on the positives gained here.

He firmly believes his side goes into a series against a major team with loads of hope. ‘‘I would always love to play a series where people think we can win something rather than being written off,’’ said Bashar.

In an interview to TOI, Bashar spoke about the pressure and expectations at home as he looked at the big test ahead. Excerpts:

Life will go on

We have to look ahead. The World Cup is almost over for us, we have only one game left. We were beaten by Ireland, but life will go on. We have a very important series coming up against India, we are looking forward to that now.

Important what we do

It’s an Indian policy what they are trying to do. For us it will be important what we do. Whatever team India sends, we will play with them.

Great expectations

I don’t know what Indians are thinking about us or about their future. It is totally up to them what they are thinking. For us it is a very important series, because we are playing at home. Expectations will be a little higher this time.

There will be some pressure no doubt to win a few games against India. That’s what people will be expecting from us. It will create a little pressure on us. Naturally, we will play on home grounds in front of large crowds, so pressure will always be there. When you play international cricket you have to be prepared for it.

Tests, a huge challenge

It will be a big challenge for us. We haven’t played Test cricket for 16 months. The last time we played against Australia that was in May 2006. But team is doing alright I would say, the boys are in cricketing nick. The first Test will be a big challenge. If we can cope that we have a chance to play better in Test matches also.

We’re better One-day side

In the Tests you need to have more experienced players, which we don’t have. One-day is just about that day you bat or bowl well then you can win the match. In Test match you need five days to play good cricket. I think in Test matches we still need a bit more experience.

Long break, a bane

It looks like we have to start from beginning. This 16-month break is not going to help us. Last time we played Australia, the first Test was very interesting. Now this break will definitely cost us.

Watch out for Haque Jr

Enamul Haque Jr can do the trick for us. He is another left-arm spinner, he has had a very good Test career. Mohammed Rafique, Mashrafe are other. You haven’t seen Shahadat Hossain, as a Test bowler I think he is okay. In Bangladesh cricket it is hard to pick someone because we always play a team game.

Revenge?

I think India will look at it as a revenge series. But for us it is just another Test series and we want to do well in both Test and One-day series.

Target: win one game

For One-dayers we need to win at least one game. And if possible win the series. If we can push India and win the series then that will be great. But winning one game is the target. And Test matches surely if we don’t win, we need to be very competitive and draw one Test match.

[BostonTigers]

Pretty bold statements from the captain. I just hope BD team delivers the good.

[Dhakablues]

His strategy to 'win atleast one game' tells the whole story about his leadership.. but you know what, I am tired of saying those things myself..so, I say, Good luck Bashar, dont forget to congratulate the team when they win the series, after all you were their ex captain!!!

[capslock]

Originally Posted by TheWatcher
India Times


Tests, a huge challenge

It will be a big challenge for us. We haven’t played Test cricket for 16 months. The last time we played against Australia that was in May 2006. But team is doing alright I would say, the boys are in cricketing nick. The first Test will be a big challenge. If we can cope that we have a chance to play better in Test matches also.

Mathematics, apparently, is not Bashar's strong suite.

[ialbd]

didnt expect anything better..... but one would expect them to concentrate on the WI game, but it seems they are well ahead in terms of packing the bag....

[ammark]

I think Bashar has been pretty cautious. Thank goodness he's aiming for only one win. If he promises more, and cant deliver, his head will roll pretty badly. As current captain he no doubt has the best insight to foresee what they can deliver in the upcoming series.

[cricket_king]

For once bashar has actually stated the right things. Perhaps we could try to win the series instead of just one win, but he is correct about the test series.

[Kabir]

I liked everything, except his aim for winning just one game. Isn't that quite loserish?

[kalpurush]

Originally Posted by Kabir
I liked everything, except his aim for winning just one game. Isn't that quite loserish?

You know...it's coming from Bashar!

[crickwizard]

biswa hablu, hablur hablu

[amethyst]

Originally Posted by crickwizard
biswa hablu, hablur hablu

hey, that's not nice. have some respect.

I think whatever Bashar said was just perfect at this point. We beat India, and then got beaten by Ireland. Expecting AT LEAST one win is not loserish. It's called "paa mati te rakha."

[jabbar]

i'm feeling scared

[istiak]

Do we really have the strength to beat Ind in a series? Statistically what he said is correct and possible any thing above is bonus! Most of our members are just flying too high at this moment.

[istiak]

Originally Posted by crickwizard
biswa hablu, hablur hablu

If you feel that he is "Biswa hablu" what about you? Your post obviously reflect your mental status.

[istiak]

I would like to see Habibul's departure from ODIs and only then we can see the real condition of our team. Any idea who could be our next ODI leader?

[stuge]

BD will need to play really really well to beat India in a Test match Because Test match is not a one day game here if you want to win you will have to play all the five days of really good cricket .

[imon]

Originally Posted by istiak
Do we really have the strength to beat Ind in a series? Statistically what he said is correct and possible any thing above is bonus! Most of our members are just flying too high at this moment.

Ya, Our team has shown most inconsistent performence in WC.
India will Whitewash BD in big margin in ODI & Test.

Our team is totally immature/childish/not able take pressure.

They don,t play cricket seriously. Specially the batsman play cricket for entertainment. They don,t have hunger for big score. They get mentally satisfied after hitting 4/5 boundaries. Particularly Ashraful & Aftab are technically most perfect batsman. They are not realizing it. The 3 left handed Batsman have some serious weakness against pace attack. These weakness will be exposed in next series.

finally we don,t have any replacement for Basher yet. I don,t know why there are so many enemie of Bashar and so many fans of Nefees.Both are out of form. Captaincy is not the major problem.

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by istiak
I would like to see Habibul's departure from ODIs and only then we can see the real condition of our team. Any idea who could be our next ODI leader?

And that's where my concern is. If we play good one day, we play bad the other day. There's a need of consistency than anything else. Until we have that, there's not a real chance.

[Rabz]

Oh...here comes our favourite punch bag...
both Bashar and India.