Bangladesh will face Zimbabwe in the first of the four ODIs at Bulawayo on Sunday and should start as favourites after having clean swept the ODI series against West Indies.

Bangladesh is on a definite high, and that has to do with the change in the fortunes after the change in the leadership guard. With an injured Mashrafe Mortaza making way for Shakib-al-Hasan - who had earlier taken over from Mohammad Ashraful - the team has looked united like never before, probably also helped by the kind of success they had against the West Indies.

Shakib-al-Hasan will not only captain the side in Zimbabwe, but will also be a player to watch out for in terms of both, batting and bowling. He had ended the batting charts with a couple of half centuries in the three games in the Caribbean, and bowled at a strangulating economy of less than 3.5 runs per over through all the games. However, Zimbabwe needs to be wary of not only Shakib, but also Ashraful, whose return to form saw him score two successive half centuries in the series. The inexperienced Zimbabwean bowlers could prove to be meat and drink for the very aggressive and experienced former skipper.

Abdur Razzaq, who was Bangladesh's most successful bowler in the preceding series will miss out though. He strained his hamstring, and that will mean that Bangladesh will need to look at Shakib and Mahmudullah for the spinning support, with Enamul Haque providing back-up.

For Zimbabwe, it is not only the lack of experience, but also the fact that most of its key players are absent from the line-up. Shorn of a lot of talent, the side will be led by Prosper Utseya, who is the best bowler the hosts have. He may not be a great wicket-taking option, but the economy of four runs per over talks a lot about his miserliness while bowling as it does of his mental toughness.

Amongst the batsmen, Mark Vermeulen will be the man to look out for, and that is nothing to do with his batting alone. Suffering a blow on his head while facing up to Ajit Agarkar, he had suffered from mild form of partial complex epilepsy and that had incited an arson attack that had destroyed one of Zimbabwe's cricket academies. Along with him, Zimbabwe will look up to the top order of Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, and Vusi Sibanda for inspiration and to get the runs on the board.

Tag :- Ajit Agarkar   Bangladesh   Enamul Haque   Mark Vermeulen   Mohammad Ashraful   Stuart Matsikenyeri   Vusi Sibanda   Zimbabwe