On Monday, Bangladesh’s ODI vice-captain Litton Das said that playing on the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (SICS) pitches for the three-match series against Ireland will help them prepare for the World Cup, as he expects similar conditions.
Bangladesh pitches are low, slow, or double-paced, making 270 a good score.
The hosts wanted to score over 300 runs in ODIs as part of their world cup preparation, so they demanded even bounce and free stroke-making for the Ireland ODIs at the SICS.
The SICS pitches also help the pacers by providing early movement to challenge the top-order batters and later turn. The hosts have scored 300+ in both games against Ireland.
After the second ODI was called off in the middle due to rain on Monday, Litton told reporters, “It will help to play on this type of wicket because in the world cup, when you play against good bowling attacks, there will be such movement and they will bowl similarly.”
“Playing good cricket means consistently scoring 300-350,” he said. We want aggressive cricket, and if our batter can score runs in big events, they will be scored this way. They’ll average 280 points per game. We prefer good wickets and results.
“ODI runs are crucial. Big teams often score 100+ runs in the final ten overs. It tested us. We’ve been discussing how to get 100 runs in the last ten overs of a T20I, so it’s good that we’ve started.”
“Everyone bats with purpose [10-40]. Well-intended. They want big sixes, ones, twos, and fours.”
Despite failing to score centuries, Litton said his teammates are not sorry. Shakib al Hasan and Touhid Hridoy scored in the 90s in the first game, while Liton and Nazmul failed to score in the second.
The top four batters want to finish the innings, which can be 100 nowadays. Century is not a goal. Shanto and I could have scored 150-180 if we batted until 45th over. We batted well. Shanto’s misfortune gave me a pass. “Mushfiq bhai knocked out our efforts,” he said.
Despite scoring over 300 runs twice, Bangladesh’s openers played cautiously after being tested early by the pacers’ movement.
Early batting was difficult. After an eternity, it felt like we were playing in a different country. Ball arced. It was arduous. Summer was cold. He blamed the rain.
We met our batting goals in the last two matches and kept our wickets for the first ten overs today due to their bowling. We lost a wicket in the tenth over, but if we had lost too many wickets early, things could have gone differently.
“Despite our 40–42 on the first powerplay, it was successful. By the 25th over, our score was 140. Mine followed Shanto’s. When there are fewer overs left, wickets make it easier to score runs.
