Published: Jul 04, 2015, 04:46 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 05, 2015, 10:36 AM (IST)
After a dream run against Pakistan and India at home, Bangladesh will face the toughest task of this season when they will take on South Africa at home. The series is commencing with a two-match T20 International (T20I) series, with the first game scheduled to be played at Mirpur on Sunday. READ: Bangladesh await their biggest test at home against South Africa
Bangladesh’s main weapon in the series will be their army of spinners. They know South Africa’s vulnerability towards playing spin, so they want to expose that. Recalling off-spinner Sohag Gazi to the squad, whose action is now cleared by International Cricket Council (ICC), is a clear indication that there will be a stern ‘spin test’ for the South African batsmen during this tour.
Mashrafe Mortaza currently has a settled team. He has a quality bowling attack which is very suitable for the Mirpur wicket. It will be interesting to see how young Mustafizur Rahman bowls against the likes of AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and others.
The Bangladesh batsmen are also doing really well of late. The bulk of the responsibility of scoring runs will be on Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Sabbir Rahman. The others need to play around them. Though in T20Is, anyone can be a match winner on a given day.
The South African squad has a good mixture of youth, experience, and talented players. Seniors like du Plessis, de Villers, and JP Duminy will guide the young members of this team. For them this tour will be a dress rehearsal for the upcoming India series. They would like to gain most out of these matches. Their performance against the spinners will be closely monitored.
The Proteas’ bowling department looks a bit inexperienced. It will be a good opportunity for the likes of Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Beuran Hendricks and others to put their hands up and take more responsibility.
Keeping the monsoon rain in mind, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided to schedule the T20Is in the afternoon. The matches will start at 1.00 PM local time. South Africa will go into game as clear favourites, but in-form Bangladesh can post a tough challenge for them.
Squads:
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Litton Das (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Arafat Sunny, Jubair Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Rony Talukdar, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Sohag Gazi, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal.
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Kyle Abbott, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Beuran Hendricks, Eddie Leie, David Miller, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, David Wiese.
Time: 12:30 IST | 07:00 GMT | 13:00 Local
(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting, and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)
