We have the batsmen who have the ability to chase huge scores: Sabbir Rahman

Bangladesh middle order batsman Sabbir Rahman is unfazed about the challenges the England team will bring along with them when they tour Bangladesh later this month. England’s recent performances on their home soil against Pakistan have been stellar.

The hosts are currently eyeing a clean sweep after gaining a 4-0 lead in the 5-match series. Rahman, however, feels that that England will face a more difficult challenge away from home.

“A team is always strong at their home ground. So are we. England is doing well in England. When they come here, they will probably have to battle our spinners and they will need to survive that,” Sabbir told reporters on Thursday evening at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

“I am not thinking about 400, 500 runs. Even if they do score that much, we have the batsmen who have the ability to chase that down,” he added.

Since 2015, Bangladesh maintains very high standards at home. None of the teams that have visited Bangladesh have managed to win in the ODI series. They have successfully managed to beat Pakistan, India, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Sabbir hopes that the Bangla Tigers can continue their good run at home.

But before they face England, they have the Afghanistan barrier to overcome. The last time Afghanistan was here, during the 2014 Asia Cup, they humbled Bangladesh in front of their own fans. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin has already said that there would be no experiments in the series and that the best team would play.

“Every international game is a challenge. It doesn’t matter which team it is. We know many players from Afghanistan who have played domestic cricket here and we are focusing on their weak points. They are a challenging side,” said Sabbir.

“I think the Afghanistan series will be very good for us. We have not played ODIs for nine months. We lost to them here in the Asia Cup. We will try to win all the matches. We need to fight it out against them and then do well against England,” he added.