Ireland skipper Andy Balbirnie believes that it wouldn’t be easy at all to beat Bangladesh at their home when they take on the side in the upcoming series starting on March 18.
The touring Ireland are scheduled to play three one day internationals alongside the similar number of T20Is and a lone Test match against the hosts.
Since 2015, Bangladesh has an impressive record of defeating top-ranked teams at home in one-day internationals.
In its continuation, they earned a 2-1 series win against the mighty India during their last visit in December 2022 at the Tigers' den.
‘It will be very difficult. Bangladesh have proven over the last 2-3 years that they are one of the top ODI teams. They are very here in Bangladesh,’ said Balbirnie in Mirpur on Tuesday following the Bangladesh Premier League match against the Sylhet Strikers.
However, the 32-year-old also vowed to give their best to endure their winning streak during the series.
Ireland, who drew their last two ODI series against Zimbabwe by 1-1 and also defeated the host West Indies in the three match one-day series by 2-1,
Earlier, they tied the two One-Day Internationals against the visiting South Africans 1-1.
‘We have played pretty good 50-over cricket as a team. We have beaten big teams. We are going to have to be at our best. It will be nice to play them here next month.’
‘So by the time our games come around in May, we will have a good idea about what we will need to do to win those games.’
Although the right-handed batsman could promise to do well in the 50-over games, he spoke in a low voice when his attention was drawn to the Test series.
Despite having Test status, the Irish have not played in enough games in this version to be ranked.
Since the inception of their journey in red-ball cricket in 2018, they have played just three games, and the last one was against England back in 2019.
‘It’s very tricky because we have not played a lot of Test matches. The last Test we played was in 2019 in Lord’s which is very different to the Test match here. We know it will be super difficult, but it’s exciting as well.’
Balbirnie has featured for the Khulna Tigers in the ninth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League. However, his team failed to confirm the playoff of the competition on the back of their dismal run.
