Bangladesh look to shed the rust as international season

Chandika Hathurusingha, the Bangladesh coach, feels that the first hour of the first One-Day International against Afghanistan will be crucial as his side looks to get back into the groove of international cricket.

"The main focus is to win the three ODIs against another national team," Hathurusingha said on Saturday (September 24). "Not playing for a long time is a bit of an Achilles' heel for us. That is what we are trying to get over, that uncertainty."

Bangladesh last played an international match in March, during the ICC World Twenty20 in India. "We have no concern over any skill part - batting, bowling or fielding. It is all about the mental side of the game - getting into the game, playing in front of a crowd for your country.

"We played so many practice matches with the top 25 players in the country. You cannot create that atmosphere. Probably, we play a higher level of cricket, but you cannot create that atmosphere of playing another international team," he added.

Bangladesh, who will be without their strike bowler Mustafizur Rahman, who is undergoing rehabilitation after a shoulder injury, will be looking at the likes of Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed and Shafiul Islam to stand up and deliver in his absence.

"We had the same attack in the 50-over World Cup," Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh skipper, said. We will miss the Fizz, but the ones who are in the team, they have a chance to prove themselves. I think this is our best possible bowling attack."

The pacer said that his side will look to play aggressive cricket and continue the momentum they had gathered from a successful last season.

"We want to play all-out aggressive cricket," he said. "We want to begin like we had finished last year. We sometimes have to play defensively, but we want to play our best cricket."

Bangladesh will take on Afghanistan in the first ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday.