Playing in India is like playing at home: Habibul Bashar

Habibul Bashar, the former Bangladesh skipper and now chief selector have gone on to state that playing in India would be an amazing thing for Bangladesh cricket in the long term given the fact that the passion is something that is certainly unrelenting in the place. Moreover, the fact is that this is expected to kick-off a rivalry in the grand scheme of things given the fact that Bangladesh and their stock in world cricket are indeed rising at an exponential rate. Bashar also went on to speak about the passion for cricket in the country at the moment.

“The passion for cricket in Bangladesh has always been huge.The same is the case with India as well. I am hoping that is what will happen in Hyderabad as well. I think we (both the teams) should play more cricket as there is a lot of viewer interest,” Bashar told TOI.

Mustafizur Rahman, who has had an injury-ravaged career thus far is one who would be missing the tour of India. “A bowler of the caliber of Mustafizur missing out is a very big setback. We have to look after him as he is just coming out of a surgery and is the future of Bangladesh. However, there are others in our bowling line-up who will be ready to step up. We have a good spin attack in left-arm spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam, and Mehedi Hasan has done well recently,” he adds.

However, Mehedi Hasan, the man of the hour is expected to make big strides on the current tour of India. “He has been a fantastic find for us. It will be a big challenge for him since he will be bowling to the best players of spin in world cricket at the moment. It will be a good opportunity for Mehdi to show the world how good he is,” the 44-year-old mentioned.

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Bashar also went on to add that the wickets in both countries were indeed the same. “Between Bangladesh and India, the conditions and wickets are pretty much the same. Last few years, if you see, Bangladesh has played very well at home. Playing in India is like playing at home,” he said.