Bangladesh’s returning head coach Chandika Hathurusingha backed Mustafizur Rahman asserting that although the southpaw had a below par outing in the past few series, he has regained his form and is likely to be their strike bowler when they take on their English counterpart in the one-day internationals starting at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday.
The first of three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) will begin at 12 p.m. and will be broadcast live on T Sports and GTV.
‘When he is in form, he is one of the world’s best bowlers. We won the India series when he started. He is coming back to that form now,’ said Hathurusingha on Tuesday in the pre-match press conference in Mirpur.
‘He bowled really well in the recent India series too. He always bowls in the crucial moments, so we will try to use him as a strike bowler,’ he added.
He also admitted that playing against England’s world class pace attack would be a huge challenge for his charges.
‘They have one of the best pacemakers in the world. They have five fast bowlers and three spinners on this tour. The challenge will be to play their fast bowlers in this series,’ said Hathurusingha on Tuesday in the pre-match conference in Mirpur.
With Jofra Archer, Reece Topley, Mark Wood, James Vicnce, Saqib Mahmood, and Adil Rashid featuring for a side, undeniably going to be a matter of blood-curding for their counterpart.
Moreover, Bangladesh are also rarely able to play against such a formidable pace attack, and they made their last appearance against them in the ICC World Cup 2019, where the former suffered a commanding 106-run loss in Cardiff.
However, the absence of champion campaigners like Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, and Liam Plunkett on the back of their Test series occupancy against New Zealand looked relieving for the Tigers head coach.
‘I don’t think they have come with their full strength. Some of them are playing Test cricket. I back our skills and strength. Saying that, they have incredible (laughs) strength in the last ten years or so.’
‘They have developed great depth in English cricket. They are the envy of every Test playing nation. I am hoping that by the end of my tenure, we can leave something behind.’
