Ahead of the historic India-Bangladesh 5-match test series, Bangladesh captain Shaqeeb Ahmed appeared guardedly confident in the press interaction.
'I know we begin as favourites. But that only means more pressure', he said with a smile.'We'll get complacent at our own peril. India's not won anything against us or any other team for the last 4 years, but don't forget it's the monsoons here so some matches could be abandoned. So it won't be a whitewash. They are going through a rough patch but on their day they could give us a run for their money.'
When asked about his plans for Kohlee, India's batting mainstay, the skipper wasn't amused. 'They aren't a one man show. If you look at the stats from last year, Kohlee made 75% of their runs, followed by extras which was 15%. So we have to watch our bowling' he said, showing the kind of homework that's gone into Bangladesh's preparation. 'It's also a good series to get some of our younger players a go at international cricket to see how they shape up before we play them in Australia later this year'. Can the Indian minions give this side a scare? It certainly looks unlikely for now.
'I know we begin as favourites. But that only means more pressure', he said with a smile.'We'll get complacent at our own peril. India's not won anything against us or any other team for the last 4 years, but don't forget it's the monsoons here so some matches could be abandoned. So it won't be a whitewash. They are going through a rough patch but on their day they could give us a run for their money.'
When asked about his plans for Kohlee, India's batting mainstay, the skipper wasn't amused. 'They aren't a one man show. If you look at the stats from last year, Kohlee made 75% of their runs, followed by extras which was 15%. So we have to watch our bowling' he said, showing the kind of homework that's gone into Bangladesh's preparation. 'It's also a good series to get some of our younger players a go at international cricket to see how they shape up before we play them in Australia later this year'. Can the Indian minions give this side a scare? It certainly looks unlikely for now.
