ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 9: BAN vs NZ – Bangladesh Predicted Playing XI

Bangladesh had a dream start to the World Cup 2019 tournament. Very few people gave them a chance before they played their first game against South Africa. The Proteas were expected to steamroll the Asian side and register a big victory. However, Bangladesh put up a scintillating performance.

They fought hard right till the end and never gave up at any stage. The way they played was inspirational and it sent out a warning message to the other teams. The Bangla Tigers gear up for another huge challenge as they will be facing New Zealand in their next game. They would not want to make any changes to the winning combination and will look to maintain the consistency.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI of Bangladesh:

Openers (Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar)

The Bangladesh openers will be tested against the quality New Zealand pace attack. It was a fluent stay out in the middle for Tamim Iqbal against South Africa. He was out in the middle for quite some time and faced 29 balls. But he could only score 16 runs and hit two boundaries in the innings. His injury must have eased down by now and he would hope to do better in the next game.

Soumya Sarkar will be the other opener and has been highly consistent for his team. Like he usually does, he took the team off to a flyer in the last match as well. While his partner was struggling to find the momentum at the other end, Sarkar attacked the bowlers and scored quick runs. He enjoys pace on the bat and will look to make it a bigger score this time.

Middle Order (Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mohammad Mithun)

In the middle order, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim have been the biggest strength for Bangladesh. The veteran all-rounder has been extremely consistent with the bat. He has made the number three position his own and is taking a lot of responsibility. He scored 75 runs against South Africa and is handy with the ball as well. He keeps things tight and picks up a few important wickets.

Mushfiqur Rahim was the man at the other end when Shakib played this brilliant knock. He batted equally well and even scored at a quicker pace. He mustered 78 runs off 80 balls but missed out on a well-deserved century. Mohammad Mithun looked good against South Africa. He scored run-a-ball 21 and will hold onto his place in the eleven.

All Rounders (Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin)

Bangladesh team has got four more all-rounders in the side other than Shakib Al Hasan. This gives the freedom to the captain to rotate his bowlers efficiently and make optimum use of the resources. Mahmudullah will be the finisher with the bat and should continue to play the same way he did in the last game. It was due to his knock that Bangladesh accelerated towards the end and it ultimately made the difference in terms of the result.

Mosaddek Hossain also fared well with a 20-ball 26. Furthermore, he bowled 6 overs where he conceded only 38 runs. Although his contribution in the last game wasn’t as huge as some of the other players, Mehidy Hasan dismissed the dangerous Faf du Plessis at a crucial juncture in the game bringing his team back into the contest. Mohammad Saifuddin has been brilliant through the middle overs where he is picking up some important wickets.

Bowlers (Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Mustafizur Rahman)

Mashrafe Mortaza had a complete off-day with the ball in the previous outing. In 6 overs, he ended up leaking 49 runs and failed to pick any wicket. It is important for him to lead his troops from the front. He is one of the best bowlers in the side and can’t afford to come up with such performances. Even if he doesn’t pick up wickets, Mashrafe should look the contain the run-scoring.

Mustafizur Rahman will round this eleven which has got their eyes on one of the top-four spots. The left-arm pacer did really well at the death when there was high pressure on him. He executed the yorkers and the slower balls well and picked up three wickets. He is a must in this Bangladesh team.