At a time when wrist spinners are in trend, Bangladesh will be heading into the world cup without one. And to be lagging behind in the spin department isn’t something that the team has been traditionally used to. Young off spinner Mehidy Hasan believes his role, in the upcoming tournament, will be to play the supporting role for the pacers.
“I think, as a spinner, the most important thing is to contain the batsmen in these conditions and complement the other bowlers of the team,” he said. “If I can check the flow of runs, then wickets will fall from the other end. So my aim is to bowl in such a manner that I can tie down the batsmen.”
The flat tracks and small grounds of England are expected to result in some high-scoring games, with finger spinners likely to come under attack. While the wicket-taking opportunities that will be created for the wrist spinners could offer some respite to them, there is very little to escape for the finger spinners. Mehidy believes he is ready to take on the challenge that is expected to come his way.
“There is always pressure in international cricket and I have taken this tournament as a challenge to see how well can I play in these conditions,” he said. “The team management has kept their faith on me and I must repay them back. As there is no leg spinner in the team I will try to give my best so that it can cover up for the lack of it.”
While the need to win a warm-up match might not be on top priority for several sides, but Mehidy says Bangladesh won’t be playing the games for any experimentation but looking to test the form of their best XI.
“Both the practice matches are important,” he claims. “We can understand the conditions better and adapt better after playing the practice matches. It is important as we can’t only assess ourselves.
“All the matches are important for us and we are not taking anything lightly because if we can do well in the practice matches then we will have less pressure when we get down to play the tournament. The world cup games will be high voltage games, so we need to prepare ourselves by giving our hundred percent in the practice matches.
“The confidence will be higher if you can win matches and we are not taking these games lightly. We will try to give our hundred percent against Pakistan tomorrow and if we can win the match it will be confidence booster.”
Before Bangladesh begin their world cup campaign, they will be playing a couple of warm-up matches, with the first match against Pakistan in Cardiff. It’s a venue where they recorded one of the most famous ODI wins – in 2005 vs Australia. Mehidy says playing at the venue brings back good memories for the players.
