Mashrafe confident of doing well in Champions Trophy

Staff Correspondent: Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said the Champions Trophy to be held in England in the upcoming June will be a tougher challenge for his team.

He said, "The matches during the Champions Trophy will not be easy for us, especially if you consider our opponents, England, Australia and New Zealand."

He, however, it is not impossible to thrash the opponents. I do not think to beat them impossible, but very much tough.

The inspirational captain Mash said this when he spoke to the media at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

The squads chosen for the Champions Trophy and the Ireland tour will be travelling to Ireland to take part in the tri-nation series along with New Zealand. Afterwards, the Bangladeshi cricketers will be going to Sussex to take part in the conditioning camp for the Champions Trophy in England.

In reply to a query over Ireland tour Mashrafe said, "We want to win the Ireland tri-nation series, and we are mentally prepared to put up a good show against the hosts and New Zealand."

"Conditioning camps are helpful as they allow us to acclimatize to the foreign conditions, and make the necessary adjustments to do well. We had a conditioning camp before the World Cup in Sydney and we performed brilliantly. However, we also had such a camp prior to the New Zealand series but didn’t do that well," he added.

Bangladesh will return to the ICC Champions Trophy for the first time since 2006 after the eight sides were confirmed for the 2017 tournament, which will be hosted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) from 1 to 18 June.

Bangladesh is placed in Group A with hosts England, Australia and New Zealand. Tigers’ first match will be against England on June 1. On June 5, Bangladesh will meet Australia and New Zealand on June 9, 2017 at Cardiff.

risingbd/Dhaka/April 25, 2017/Porag/A K Azad