As Bangladesh are all set to take on the Netherlands to start their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign, a forecast of heavy rain poses a significant threat to the fate of the match.
According to media reports coming from Hobert, neither Bangladesh nor Netherlands were able to utilise their respective practice sessions due to heavy rain, and the same could happen to the match.
Bangladesh came to this year's T20 World Cup with their fans not hoping for something memorable. Over the last couple of years, Bangladesh played 43 matches and won only 15 of them. Their most recent wins came against the UAE in a two-match series.
Ahead of the main event, Bangladesh played a warm-up match against Afghanistan and they suffered a similar fate - a defeat without offering any kind of effective resistance, reports UNB.
Just a few weeks before the T20 World Cup, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) appointed Sridharan Sriram as the T20 consultant of Bangladesh. The former Indian cricketer has done quite a few experiments with the team in the Asia Cup and in the Tri-Series in New Zealand.
After much experiment, Sridharan and the team management have done two last-minute changes to the World Cup squad adding Soumya Sarkar and Shoriful Islam, who were actually drafted as standby players, replacing underperforming Sabbir Rahman and Mohammad Saifuddin.
Before Taking the field in the World Cup, the opening pair has been the main point of concern for Bangladesh. According to the hints the team management has provided so far, Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das are most likely to open the innings for the Tigers.
The Tigers might go with three pacers - Taskin Ahmed, Mosatafizur Rahman and either of Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam - and two spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
While the threat of rain is still looming large, Bangladesh Captain Shakib said that Tigers are looking forward to having a great match against the pumped-up Netherlands who have done well in the first round of the World Cup.
"We had a very good preparation," Shakib said in the pre-match press meet. "The four matches in New Zealand (in the Tri-Series) will help us, especially here in Hobart where the weather is a little similar to Christchurch. So, everyone is ready and excited for the match tomorrow."
For the Netherlands, Bas de Leede, the right-arm pacer, has done well in the first round taking seven wickets in three matches. He can offer a tough challenge to the bigger teams in the Super 12s.
The match is scheduled to begin at 10am (Bangladesh time) tomorrow. Now, if the weather permits, the match is going to be a good chance for Bangladesh who have been searching for a win in the Super 12s of T20 World Cups for a long time.
