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Hopes are high: Bashar

SPORTS REPORTER
Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar was confident that the Tigers have a good chance of making a mark on their tour of Sri Lanka starting on August 31.
Bashar's boys travel to the island nation for two Tests and three ODIs on the 25th of this month and the skipper had no doubts that the team's vibe had changed since their last visit in 2001 when they lost both Tests by big margins.
"My expectation is very high in Sri Lanka. We know they are playing very well and they are always a difficult proposition at home. But this time we are more confident and I believe we have a greater chance to do much better than what we had done last time," said Bashar at an official press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur on Thursday.
Bashar also expressed his satisfaction with the team given to him and acknowledged his greater role in selection.
"In the past, I have always been consulted by the selectors but this time the discussions were much longer. I am very satisfied with the squad and it is pretty similar to what I had in mind."
Coach Dav Whatmore also felt that the side was the strongest possible one.
"The team the selection committee picked with the captain's comments and thoughts we feel is the best possible group.
"It's a group that best reflects the different conditions from which we experienced in England. These boys we feel are the ones who will put as much pressure as they can on the opposition who are playing
pretty well as you know."
Selector Athar Ali Khan was asked why Nafees Iqbal had been dropped from the ODI side.
"He has not had a very good series in England and we sent him to back to that country with the A side so that he could regain his confidence. We had a lot of discussion about him and we feel he needs a little bit of time. His case is similar to Mohammad Ashraful a couple of years ago when he was left out of the side and he managed to recover. We think Nafees will also come back with big confidence," said Athar.
The former Bangladesh opener explained that the inclusion of newcomer left-arm paceman SK Russel over more experienced
campaigners like Tapash Baisya and Talha Jubair was prompted by the variation factor.
"We haven't had a left-arm paceman for quite some time. He offers us a new dimension. He is not that fast but can swing the ball and is very accurate. He has also performed consistently at different levels and has proved more than once that he is capable of bowling very good spells."
Whatmore said the Bangladesh team had a plan in place for the ICC's new innovations like the super-sub and the power-play.
"Looking at the rules for replacement of players, it appears as though it is heavily loaded towards a batsman. But that doesn't mean that
we have not thought of a replacement bowler. The important thing is to have a plan and we have one and we will try to go out there and implement that.
"I think it will be more of a headache for the captain, but it's an exciting innovation and everyone is going to enjoy not only the replacement option but also the new field restrictions."
The former coach of Sri Lanka was also looking forward to the tour with relish.
"It's special and I would like very much for the Bangladesh team to stand up and be counted there."