POBNEWS24, Mymensingh, Oct 27, 2021:Thanks to Mushfiqur Rahim, the word ‘mirror’ is coming up even before another match is played in the Super Twelve episode. Not irrelevant, of course. When the opponent is England, you can keep an eye on two mirrors at the same time if you want.
A mirror of the mind, another of the eyes. The first one shows the back picture. And the present in the latter. For Bangladesh, the picture of these two mirrors is like the distance between two poles. When the golden past is seen in the mirror of the mind, the disturbing present is emerging in the mirror of the eyes.
Behind is the picture of England’s defeat in the ODI World Cup in 2011 and 2015. And now it is seen that England is a reflection of an ‘indomitable’ team in the eyes of Bangladesh’s fast bowling coach Otis Gibson. When such a team is ahead, the team, which is mired in the pain of losing to Sri Lanka, has to try to avoid the heat of outside criticism.
No matter how much it is claimed that outside criticism cannot touch them, the inside story is not like that. It is not unknown to the outside world. Not saying that, in the virtual press conference of Jos Butler, an English journalist raised the issue of Bangladesh which is under pressure for various reasons. Wanted to know whether Mahmud Ullah is an easier opponent than before?
What the England wicketkeeper-batsman said in reply is also able to make the Bangladesh camp happy, ‘No, no, not at all. We are rather prepared to see Bangladesh in their best form. With the match scheduled to start at 2pm local time (4pm Bangladesh time) at the Sheikh Abu Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi today, the wicket there is also warning the English camp in advance about the possibility of Bangladesh.
There have been several matches of the just-concluded IPL. However, not too many runs were seen. On the contrary, the struggle of batsmen has been seen more in slow wickets. Bangladesh’s recent success in T20 is also on such wickets, where spinners can hold the batsmen by the throat. Therefore, the English are keeping in mind the possibility of Bangladesh becoming a strong opponent. That’s what Butler means, ‘their record on the ground recently is pretty good. Here (in Abu Dhabi) they are getting almost the same condition. So we are also expecting great performance from them. I hope it will be a tough fight.
Before entering this fight, the English batsmen have made special preparations with the spinners of Bangladesh. Butler has spent a lot of time batting against left-arm spinners in the nets. Because the Bangladesh captain handed over the new ball to the left-arm spinner as soon as he got a spin-friendly wicket. Ewin Morgan’s England is no less decorated in spin. They are a little ahead of Bangladesh in spin diversity. Offspinner Moin Ali’s combination with legspinner Adil Rashid has shattered the West Indies by 55 runs.
Rashid bowled 2.2 overs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium that day, leaving the Caribbeans breathless. He took 4 wickets at the cost of only 2 runs. Moin, who took two wickets for 18 runs, also contributed to the team’s impressive victory. If Abu Dhabi’s wicket spin is suitable, the spinners’ fight is also likely to be equal. However, in England’s limited-overs cricket success, the aggressive batting of their batsmen has repeatedly been a threat to the opposition. Especially from the beginning, stormy batting makes the opponent’s bowling random very easily.
Fast bowling coach Otis Gibson said, “Morgan has an important role to play in the way England are playing white ball cricket now.” They choose the positive option. So I talked to the bowlers and batsmen. England bowlers always want to take wickets. Batsmen also want to keep the run wheel in motion at all times. They want to put pressure on the bowlers. Our bowlers have also been told not to panic. They can be beaten even if it is good. This is the style of batting in England. At the same time, they will give you a chance to pick up wickets. So don’t panic and be careful to match your skills according to the plan.
The afternoon cricket practice at the ICC Cricket Academy ground in Dubai was also dominated by certain skill areas, which the team management felt could be useful against the English. While batting in the net, the ball hit the lower abdomen for a while, but today there was no doubt about the game of wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan. Rather, what is being heard is the desire to turn Bangladesh around. As Otis Gibson put it, “It’s a little tense, but we’re on the big stage now that the qualifiers are over. However, in this episode we did not come to play just to play. We came here believing that we could lose anyone in our day. ‘
If possible, the back picture in the mirror of the mind will also be visible in the mirror of the eyes.
