By Sports Reporter
Zimbabwe national cricket team stand in captain Craig Ervine has backed the Chevrons to pull off an upset in their lone Test match against Bangladesh which gets underway this Saturday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.
Zimbabwe has very good memories of their previous Test series in Bangladesh two years ago after defeating the home side by 151 runs to record their first Test victory in five years and the first triumph abroad since November 2001.
Bangladesh however bounced back in tbe second Test to level that series one-all but Ervine believes memories of that famous victory will be another motivating factor this time around.
“We have to believe and go about our business as if we are here to win, otherwise there’s no point touring Bangladesh,” Ervine, who is standing in as Zimbabwe’s captain in the absence.
Zimbabwe arrived in Dhaka last Saturday without their Test captain Sean Williams who remained home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.
“We have had success here before and travelled to Bangladesh many times before, so there’s no reason why we can’t do it again.”
Apart from Williams, Zimbabwe are also missing the experienced seamers Kyle Jarvis and Tendai Chatara who are both still recovering from injury.
Ervine however remains confident the tourists are ready for the challenge against a struggling Bangladesh side which has been finding the going tough in their recent matches.
Bangladesh have lost their last six Test matches – five of them by an innings or more – but they have also beaten Zimbabwe five times in their last six encounters.
“Bangladesh are strong at home but they are going through a period of finding a balance in their team as well as us, so it will be a good challenge for our guys and a different one to the Sri Lankan series in terms of conditions,” he said.
“The guys have been excellent at training over the last couple of days. Everyone knows what they need to do and the guys are just cracking on with their work.”
Zimbabwe pushed Sri Lanka hard in two home matches in January – their first Test series in more than a year – before narrowly going down 1-0.
“The momentum gained from that series, we want to carry that into the Test match against Bangladesh,” he said.
Zimbabwe will also play three one-day internationals and two Twenty20s during their Bangladesh tour.
Squads
Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza Butt, Regis Chakabva (wicketkeeper), Craig Ervine (captain), Kevin Kasuza, Timycen Maruma, Prince Masvaure, Christopher Mpofu, Brian Mudzinganyama, Carl Mumba, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Ainsley Ndlovu, Victor Nyauchi, Brendan Taylor, Donald Tiripano, Charlton Tshuma
Bangladesh: Mominul Haque (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Abu Jayed, Nayeem Hasan, Ebadat Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mehidy Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Yasir Ali.
