Tigers extra motivated as ODI series begins today

Bangladesh will remain extra motivated as they take on India today in the first match of the three-match one-day international series, said skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza on Wednesday. The motivation is driven on the fact that any performance against India, who hold a prominent place in the map of cricket world, gets quickly noticed by others. All three matches of the series are scheduled at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium with a 3:00pm start and a reserve day to follow in case of rain. India ousted Bangladesh from the World Cup quarter-final in March but not before several controversies that ruined the Tigers’ first ever knock out contest at global stage. But Mashrafee said it is not the controversial match, rather India’s status as giants, is the biggest motivating factor for his side to do well in the series. ‘If you play with them and do well naturally your confidence is raised,’ Mashrafee told reporters in Mirpur. ‘You are recognised and that can always be motivating.’ Bangladesh may have lagged behind in five-day Tests but they have enjoyed considerable success in limited-over cricket, having stunned England to make the World Cup quarter-finals in March before trouncing Pakistan 3-0 at home a month later. India’s captain MS Dhoni said he was unlucky to miss the Tigers’ Pakistan series, but gave them their due credit for beating the side in such a convincing manner. Frankly, it’s very difficult for us to watch any other nation playing because we play throughout the year,’ said Dhoni. ‘I have said thank you to one of the formats, but still the amount of cricket that has happened, it’s very difficult to follow any other series. ‘As far as videos are concerned…I feel the upcoming players in Bangladesh, most of them have done well whenever they have got an opportunity to play. ‘That’s definitely good for them because to have a bigger pool of players is something that’s important so that if a few of your top players get injured because of the amount of cricket they are playing, somebody is replaced.’ One of the new generation of cricketers, Liton Das, is expected to make his debut today and bat at top order, while rookie paceman Mustafizur Rahman and Rony Talukdar still need to wait. The series will also be taken as a benchmark to judge coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, who had spent a year with the Tigers having taken the charge before a series against the same team last year. Bangladesh had lost the series 2-0 to a team that was almost third choice with as many as eight regular players being rested. India, however, brought a full-strength team this time and are unlikely to give Bangladesh any leeway. News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net