Bangladesh is preparing thoroughly under the guidance of Trevor Chappell on the eve of their first away tour to Zimbabwe. Under the hot summer sun the local boys were perspiring under the burden of a long and arduous practice session. The newly appointed coach had an eagle eye over his team, sorting out each and everyone's strength and weakness. The Bangladeshi skipper was standing right beside his coach, exchanging words about gameplan and strategy. It was at that moment we approached Naimur Rahman. Our conversation ran like this:

S.K: What do you think about Bangladesh's first away tour to Zimbabwe?

Naimur: I think the players are in good form. The team is in good shape too and above all Zimbabwe is a strong side. I hope we will make a fight there and the matches would be competitive. We are looking forward to a good series.

S.K: We are used to playing on flat pitches in our country, but the conditions are quite different in Zimbabwe because most of the tracks are hard and bouncy there. Won't it be difficult?

Naimur: The wickets in Zimbabwe are not as fast as those in South Africa. But we have endeavoured to practice as much as possible on those kind of wickets. We are preparing on green wickets here and I hope our players will benefit from it.

S.K: Bikash's absence from the squad has raised some eyebrows. He didn't do badly in the Test against India. Would you like to comment on this?

Naimur: Yes, he is not a bad bowler but at this moment he is struggling with his line and length. The coach is working on him and soon we will see him in the squad.

S.K: We see that the team consists of only five specialist bowlers, the rest are either batsmen or allrounders. Isn't that showing a defensive attitude?

Naimur: Not really, because we took the best bowlers we have in our stock; besides the batsmen are all in good form and it is hard to exclude any of them.

S.K: There are only three seam bowlers if we keep apart Mushfiq Babu, what would happen in case of injury?

Naimur: Basically we are a spinner based team. Our spinners form the cream of our bowling department, so we had to pick them.

S.K: Do you feel any extra pressure having two ex-captains in your team?

Naimur: Not at all actually. They are very cordial and friendly towards me. They are helping me a lot and always co-operate with me.

S.K: Two new faces are in your squad, Ashraful and Md. Sharif. What do you think of their performance?

Naimur: Well, they are worthy of inclusion, no doubt. Though they are relatively new, both are immensely talented and did very well in the domestic matches. Ashraful played splendidly in the U-17 Asia Cup. They need a break to learn and cope up at the international level, so their presence is justified.

S.K: Are you feeling any pressure, being the captain, which may affect your performance?

Naimur: I don't think so. I always enjoy playing cricket and give less attention to the pressure of captaincy. To me captaincy is a responsibility to make the decisions on the field but the main thing is to keep your concentration over the game and give the best you have in the field.

S.K: Will it not hamper you to bowl like before as you were accused of chucking? Maybe it could affect your performance.

Naimur: I don't think that will happen. It was corrected by some overseas experts and I don't find any problem associated with me now. I am pretty comfortable.

S.K: Which department do you find is strongest in the Zimbabwe side?

Naimur: Of course it's their fielding. They are outstanding fielders and we all know it. Their batting department is also strong.

S.K: Thank you, Naimur and wishing you the best on behalf of CricInfo and all Bangladeshis.

Naimur: Thank you, too. We hope that we will not dishearten our countrymen's expectations.

© CricInfo