 The first ODI between England and Bangladesh will be played on Thursday at Trent
Bridge in Nottingham. This is the second leg of the tour of England for the Asian
side, and this will follow the easy, 2-0 win that the English side had had over
the Bangladeshis in the first leg of Test matches.
In this year, the English had earlier toured Bangladesh and won all
their three ODIs, and will look to do the same in this series as well. However,
they will know that complacency can cost dear, especially after losing their
last two game against the Aussies in the five match series.
Click for Live Score Card of England vs Bangladesh
Of course, they will be a confident lot, having beating the Aussies in the
five-match series, and given the minnow nature of the opposition and the foreign
conditions, it may not get easier for Bangladesh. England will also probably
want to try things out in this series, and one gets the sense that Ian Bell
may get his chances finally in an ODI.
Part of it may also be due to the fact that Kevin Pietersen was injured
in the previous game and may miss the entire series. This could mean that the
English selectors name one of their England Lions players as replacement for
him, while Bell will replace him in the exact playing eleven.
In the bowling, it could also be the turn of one of them to replace one of
the bowlers in the side in order to give them a break from the series. Stuart
Broad has had a lot of cricket in all the three formats of the game and could
be excused for this game, whereas James Anderson will want to play against
Bangladesh after having missed out featuring against them in the previous series
in Bangladesh as well.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, will look to make the best of this series, under
a new captain. Mashrafe Mortaza has been appointed as the skipper of
the side, and Shakib al Hasan has been relieved of the duties after it was found
that the captaincy was affecting his batting and bowling. With a lesser role
to play, things could be a little more easy for the former captain.
However, the lynchpin of the side continues to be Tamim Iqbal, who will look
to get some support from those batting down the order in the side. With the
bowling looking as weak as it is now, life may not be a bed of roses for the
side.
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