Continuing the Previews of the Twenty/20 World Cup participants.

We started with a preview of the Indian team and today I preview the Bangladesh team.

Squad :-

Mohammad Ashraful (c) Abdur Razzak
Junaid Siddique Mahmudullah
Mashrafe Mortaza Mithun Ali
Mushfiqur Rahim (wk) Naeem Islam
Raqibul Hasan Rubel Hossain
Shahadat Hossain Shamsur Rahman
Shakib Al Hasan Syed Rasel
Tamim Iqbal

Bangladesh are the second seeds in a group that also contains Ireland and India.

I would fully expect the Bengali team to qualify in second place behind India and qualify for the Super 8s, but that is as far as I think they will go.

Their batting tactics are well suited to this short version of the game and in skipper Ashraful and Shakib ul Hasan have two batsmen who have the ability to win a match singlehandidly. A few overs of Ashraful in the middle and you are promised some unorthodox and aggressive batting.

The bowling will be led once again by Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain will be a crucial factor in the team with his pace. If he can support Mortaza well with the new ball and take some early wickets, Bangladesh could spring a surprise or two.

The rest of the Bangladeshi bowling will predominantly be down to the spinners and whether they can limit the oppostion batting in the middle overs. Shakib's and Ashraful's bowling may in fact be as equally important as their batting.

Strength : Twenty/20 is ideal for the Bangladeshi batsmen

Weakness : The bowling looks rather limited and wont scare too many batsmen

Main Man : Shakib ul Hasan. A quality performer who has been excellent in the last couple of years. This tournament gives him the opportunity to show off his all round talent.

Expectations : Super 8s and thats as far as it goes.