Bangladesh's hopes are suitably realistic

The monsoons are visiting Dhaka earlier than usual this year, playing havoc with the practice sessions of the two teams that are already here for the seventh Asia Cup. The soggy outfield in the Bangabandhu National Stadium forced them to beat a retreat to the more hospitable precincts of an indoor training facility, known tersely as the BKSP, on the outer perimeter of the city. It was after returning from a session there that the coach of the Bangladesh team, Imran Sarwar, agreed to talk on his team's prospects in the tournament.

Sarwar who took over as coach when former South African player Eddie Barlow, suffered a sudden brain haemorrhage admitted that there was not sufficient team to prepare for the event. But he added that the saving grace was the players were match fit since the domestic league ended only on May 15 and having played recently here, they were all familiar with the conditions at the Bangabandhu. He reckoned predictably that the pitch laid out here portends to be a good one for the batsmen.

Bangladesh has won just three of the 37 ODI's they have played, only one of which came against a Test playing nation, the famous victory over Pakistan in last year's World Cup that sparked off wild celebrations with a public holiday being declared. The mood is more sober these days and the expectations are suitably realistic. When asked who were the players to look out for in the side, Sarwar replied matter of factly that he could not mention a single name like Jayasuriya, Tendulkar or Akram but that it was a disciplined outfit which perormed well as a team.

Sarwar said that the final eleven would be chosen in consultation with the captain and manager and that he himself would defer to the wishes of the captain in this regard. Sarwar believed that this was just the right time for Bangladesh to be bestowed Test status, which he said would transform the team into a tough and battle scarred force. But if it was held back he warned that it would take that much longer for Bangladesh to catch up with the rest. Certainly there was a grain of truth in what he said for while no one would argue that Bangladesh is of Test class, the only way they're going to get better is by playing Test cricket with the big boys.