‘Warm-up match ought to boost batters’ confidence’

Bangladesh batter Mosaddek Hossain said that the ongoing three-day practice match between Bangladesh and CWI President's XI in Antigua will definitely help the visiting sides' batters adjust to the condition in the Caribbean ahead of their multi-format series against the home side. 

On the first day of the three-day warm-up game on Friday, Bangladesh were able to amass 274 for six in 82.5 overs at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.  

"We tried to do fitness training for two to three days since arriving and tried to adjust to the weather here. There is a three-day practice match ongoing and I think it is a very good opportunity for us as batters are gaining the much-needed confidence from this," Mosaddek said in a video message to the BCB while the game was underway yesterday.

Mosaddek praised the way Tamim Iqbal and Nazmul Hossain Shanto batted and thought that the practice match would play a big role in preparing the batters better for the upcoming multi-format series, scheduled to begin with the two-match Test series on June 16 in Antigua. 

"Tamim bhai is batting brilliantly and Shanto also did well. I think it was good preparation for the batters and this practice match will help us a lot in the Test matches. This will especially help the batters a lot as the condition here is quite different than what we usually see in Bangladesh. The surface offers more movement here and the bounce is also a bit more than what we get in Bangladesh," added Mosaddek. 

Tamim, despite receiving a lot of stick from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the media recently over lack of clarity on his T20I future, was the most impressive one as he remained unbeaten on 140. He stitched a stand of 141 runs with Shanto, who too hit a fifty. 

Even though Tamim and Shanto were able to get some runs to help boost their confidence, there were still ominous signs for Bangladesh as Mominul Haque and Mahmudul Hasan Joy were dismissed without even opening their accounts.