Bangladesh Preview

Bangladesh qualified for the World Cup by winning the ICC Trophy in Malaysia. Buoyed by this success, and the awarding of official one-day international status, they will be looking forward to a good perfomance to support their claims to full Test status. The last year, however, has seen some setbacks, notably a winless Meril Cup performance, where on home soil they were unable to threaten Kenya or Zimbabwe.

Playing in Group B with New Zealand, West Indies, Scotland, Australia and Pakistan, they will hope to beat Scotland, but on present form look unlikely to upset any of the other teams. Their lack of experience of English conditions will tell against them.

Their coach Gordon Greenidge is being assisted by Alan Ward the former England pace man and Mushtaq Mohammed, and the team travelled to England early to begin adjustment. Mehrab Hossain scored Bangladesh's first full international century in the Meril Cup, and will lead the batting.

Bangladesh's strength is in seam bowling, with both Hasibul Hussain and Khaled Mahmud having the potential to exploit English wickets. Veteran all-rounder Minhazul Abedin was a late addition to the squad, following internal wranglings and considerable political pressure. Skipper Aminul Islam is optimistic of causing a few upsets, but realistically Bangladesh will do well to finish 5th in their group.

Statistics

• Team World Cup Records
• Team One-Day International Records
• Bangladesh Statistics