The first ODI between Australia and Bangladesh in the three-match series
will be played at the Shere Bangla stadium in Mirpur in Dhaka. This is
a short series that has been conducted in order to get the ICC calendar requirements
out of the way.
Bangladesh had been patchy in their World Cup performances thanks to
the batting that struggled right through out. Apart from their batting in the
opening encounter against India, where they managed to get to 285, the Bangladeshi
side did not do too well, with their chief batsmen, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib
al Hasan, struggling to get a move on.
Click for Live Score Card of Bangladesh Vs Australia
On the other hand, Australia had a surprising World Cup. They lost only one game
before the quarter-finals and yet, looked below par. They beat New Zealand, Zimbabwe,
Kenya and Canada, and did not look convincing enough in their performances before
they lost two in a row - one to Pakistan and one to India and crashed out of the
tournament.
The batting was a tad lethargic and it was not until the century by Ricky Ponting
in the quarter-final did the side look like they were in a better position to
clinch the World Cup. The repercussion of that was that the side lost their
skipper Ricky Ponting for this series. Ponting announced his resignation
from captaincy and will now look to play as a normal number three batsman in
the side.
Michael Clarke has taken over the reigns and will look to ensure that
he can overcome the issues that the side may face if the batsmen do not live
up to the expectation against the slow and low turning tracks of Dhaka.
Apart from that, Australia will also be without David Hussey, who returns back
to Australia for some personal reasons and Shaun Tait, who has announced his retirement
from this format of the game. John Hastings will come into the playing eleven
while James Pattinson will be the replacement in the squad.
What will be interesting to see is if the side can play an extra spinner - Steve
Smith and Xavier Doherty will both be a part of the side.
Bangladesh will welcome the return of Mashafe Mortaza who will partner Shafiul
Islam at the top of the bowling while the left arm spin of Abdur Razzaq and Shakib
will take care of spin.
Alok Kapali also makes a comeback to the squad, but it will be interesting to
see if he can directly replace Mohammad Ashraful.
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