Bangladesh cricket team coach Shane Jurgensen believes his team’s recent decent form has boosted confidence in his players ahead of the series against Zimbabwe.
BY MICHAEL MADYIRA
The two lowly-ranked countries will play two Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Twenty20 matches.
They will play their first ODI on Wednesday in Harare for the series that ends on May 12 with the T20 games in Bulawayo.
Bangladesh arrived in Zimbabwe fresh from last month’s tour of Sri Lanka where they drew in the only T20 match, won one of the three ODIs, drew the first Test and lost the second.
Late last year, they claimed a home ODI series against West Indies. Ironically, Zimbabwe lost all their seven matches on their tour of the Windies last month.
“We look to improve in each series. We have had a good 18 months and hope to continue with our rise. We had a good series against West Indies and Sri Lanka and that has created confidence in the players. You can even see their approach to the game has differed from the past,” Jurgensen told Standardsport.
“Before a game, you do some homework on your opposition and that is exactly what we have done on Zimbabwe. We have been scoring a lot of runs lately, but we treat Zimbabwe with utmost respect. We expect a tough challenge,” said the 36-year-old Australian coach.
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All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan makes a return to the Bangladesh Test squad following his recovery from a shin injury.
His role would however be limited to batting, having not yet fully mended. “Shakib is currently in a rehabilitation programme but he is fine. He will not bowl in the Test matches,” said Jurgensen.
