Tigers spotted in Ireland

Following their departure on May 1, the Bangladesh national cricket team reached Dublin at 8:30 pm on Wednesday (1:30 am Bangladesh time on Thursday), to participate in an ODI tri-series also featuring hosts Ireland and West Indies as a part of their build-up to the ICC Cricket World Cup, which begins on May 30.

The tri-series will get underway with Ireland taking on West Indies on May 5 while Bangladesh will face the Caribbean side in their first match of the series on May 7.

The 19-member Bangladesh squad for the series includes four backup players as youngsters Nayeem Hasan and Yasir Ali were later joined by right-arm pacer Taskin Ahmed and Forhad Reza following a last minute call up. Batsman Tamim Iqbal and the team management had earlier explained that shuffling the playing order might be needed to keep the players fit and fresh for cricket's quadrennial showpiece event.

With Rubel Hossain just having recovered from a side strain, Mustafizur Rahman's ankle problem and Mohammad Saifuddin having played the whole Dhaka Premier league (DPL) with tennis elbow, the window might be open for the backup players to step up and strut their stuff during the tri-series.

However, all eyes will be on right-arm pacer Taskin, who was reduced to tears by his exclusion from the World Cup squad. Although major changes to Bangladesh's 15-member World Cup squad are not expected, Taskin, who has been in and out of the Tigers' squad mostly due to injuries, might use this series as a platform to regain match fitness. The right-arm quick will definitely look to display some good performances with hopes of becoming the last-minute change to the squad ahead of the World Cup.

The series might also see Reza once again don the national colours after eight years. The all-rounder got the selectors' nod following an excellent DPL campaign.

Before their departure from Bangladesh, skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said that his troops will look to win every match in Ireland in order to get their morale high before the World Cup and while that is important, it is yet to be seen how the Tigers will fare with a varied team combination.