Concerns over Tigers' CT preparations

Bangladesh's preparations going into a major event have often come under scrutiny and this time ahead of the Champions Trophy, concerns are being raised about how prepared the team is going into the tournament.

The cricketers have just finished playing the 11th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and international cricket will be wrought with a higher degree of challenges, a significant jump from the domestic circuit. Many of the players are yet to return to training, especially players from the Fortune Barishal franchise that clinched back-to-back BPL titles last Friday.

A look at what other teams who are set to play the Champions Trophy would put Bangladesh's preparations into further context.

New Zealand and South Africa are playing a tri-nation ODI series, also involving hosts Pakistan. England are preparing through a three-match ODI series away in India. Australia are set to take on hosts Sri Lanka in a two-match ODI series, having thrashed the Lankans in a two-match Test series.

Only Afghanistan and Bangladesh are going into the tournament without having played any ODIs in the last one month.

Nine days remain before Bangladesh open their Champions Trophy campaign against India on February 20 in Dubai and it was not a surprise that the Tigers' head coach Phil Simmons remained concerned regarding their preparation.

"I agree that it is not the best preparation," Simmons told reporters before a training session in Mirpur yesterday.

"But they [cricketers] were playing white-ball cricket, which means that they are sharp skills-wise. We have to get their minds up to 50-over cricket in the next six or seven days. They have the skills. They are performing. It is about getting to that 50-over mentality now," he added.

Simmons also mentioned that his troops will up the ante in training in the coming days.

"We will have double practice sessions in the next couple of days. We bat and bowl in the morning, and then do the same under the lights. We are getting ourselves prepared to bat for 50 overs," Simmons said.

Shifting between formats has traditionally been a difficult prospect for the Tigers and when it comes to shifting to international cricket from BPL, the task certainly appears a lot steeper. The Tigers found out how difficult high-scoring pitches are to get a result in during the ODIs against the West Indies in December last year while the last ODI World Cup in India also showed deficiencies in that regard.

Simmons felt that focus needed to shift fast so that they can be prepared for the India game in Dubai.

"The first part of the preparation is about Dubai. Once we can get ourselves in the right frame of mind, and work on the right things for Dubai, I think we can start the competition well. We will get familiar conditions in Pakistan after that," he said.