BANGLADESH: CRICKET - Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar says his team are aiming to qualify for the second round of the cricket World Cup

Recent form and a notable win over world champions Australia two years ago have boosted Bangladesh's confidence ahead of the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. "Definitely our main objective is to qualify for the second round," captain Habibul Bashar told Reuters. Bangladesh won 18 one-day internationals out of 28 last year. They also won their latest away series 3-1 against Zimbabwe in early February. Although most of Bangladesh's victories have come against Zimbabwe and Kenya, they won 64.24 percent of their matches in 2006, second only to Australia (71.42). "I think the future is very bright." said Bashar. "The way we played last year I think the balance of the team is improving day by day and we managed to win some games last year so the World Cup is very important for us to grow in the right direction." Bangladesh now have a number of reliable batsman including Shahreer Nafees and Aftab Ahmed. In 39 ODIs, Nafees has scored 1,391 runs with three centuries and seven fifties while Aftab made 1,374 runs with 12 fifties. Bangladesh will play in Group B in the World Cup, featuring former champions India and Sri Lanka, plus Bermuda. Bashar said the side also had two dependable spinners, including Abdur Razzak with 45 scalps in 2006. At the last World Cup in South Africa, Bangladesh lost five of their six games including one against Canada while they were also at the receiving end of a hat-trick by Chaminda Vaas in the first three balls of the match against Sri Lanka. "It's going to be tough because with only two going through to the second round we have to beat a top team like India or Sri Lanka," Bashar said. "But we are looking forward to that now, we hope that the way the Bangladesh team is going now it will be a tough job but not impossible."

ITN Source | February 28, 2007

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