Just over 24 hours after their Test series in New Zealand ended, England will begin a white ball tour of Bangladesh when they start a three-match ODI series which begins in Mirpur on Wednesday, which is a big one for both sides.
The ODI World Cup is a little over seven months away in this part of the world so these next three matches will form perfect preparation for what will be to come later in the year. Bangladesh are strong in this format while England are world champions so we should get a competitive series.
Bangladesh
We have seen in the past that Bangladesh are at their best and are most comfortable in 50 over cricket and that is especially the case at home where their record is extremely good. They make no secret of the fact that they deliver conditions which is very much to their advantage but it is all well and good putting themselves in that position, they still need to deliver on that and having won their last seven series at home they certainly do that.
One other reason why they are so good in this format of the game as opposed to the other ones is they treat it seriously. While other teams usually use 50 over cricket to give star names a rest, their stars play more in the 50 over game than the other formats and it makes them a tough team to beat wherever they are playing. It will be interesting to see how Bangladesh go in the coming months because they should be considered dangerous outsiders for the World Cup.
England
You only have to look at the scheduling of this series to know where it stands on the list of priorities for England. It isn’t very high at all when you consider that none of their Test stars are going to be around for these three ODIs and indeed the three T20s which follow them. That offers up the opportunity for some players to stake a claim for the World Cup squad later in the year, particularly as others have been given permission to miss this tour to earn in the Pakistan Super League.
The other thing which will show everyone where this tour lies in England’s importance is the fact that they didn’t play a single warm up match in the lead up to this opening ODI. These are not familiar conditions for England and a lot of the team were in South Africa in their last outing so you would imagine they are going to need at least this match to get a feel for everything and potentially natural improve their way into the series.
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Team News
Bangladesh will be delighted to be able to call upon the services of Tamim Iqbal for this match. He joins a strong side which will include Shakib-al-Hasan. Mushfiqur Rahim and Mustafizur Rahman as Bangladesh go full strength once again.
England are expected to employ a number of all-rounders in this match with Will Jacks potentially playing to offer another spin option. They are expected to rotate the returning from injury Jofra Archer and Saqib Mahmood with the former most likely to play this opening game.
Betting
I think England have put themselves in a vulnerable position here. They haven’t had a warm up match and these are not conditions in which they historically thrive in and they are up against a side at full strength and who play their home pitches incredibly well. England might well build their way into the series but even if they had an ideal preparation they wouldn’t be massive favourites to come out on top here.
Given that they haven’t had an ideal preparation and that England are nothing like close to being at full strength for this match, the 2/1 on Bangladesh looks a huge price. They are very strong in home conditions, have a number of spinners who use what is below then very well, have seamers who get the ball to talk on these pitches and have batters who are comfortable in these conditions as well. This is a hard assignment for a better England side than the one we’ll see on the field here so the 2/1 on the home side is too big and worth taking.
Tips
Back Bangladesh to beat England for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Bet365
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