ICC World Cup 2019: We Have To Post 300+ Scores If We Bat First - Mashrafe Mortaza

Bangladesh Cricket Team will be oozing with confidence following their recent victory in the tri-series involving Ireland and Windies. As they look to take the confidence to the ICC World Cup 2019, skipper Mashrafe Mortaza has said that they will have post 300+ runs on the scoreboard if they bat first to give the opposition a run for their money.

World Cup is a completely different challenge: Mortaza

Meanwhile, the Tigers have witnessed good success in major tournaments in recent times. From qualifying for the quarter-final in the 2015 World Cup to securing a semifinal berth in the Champions Trophy in 2017, Bangladesh have shown that they are capable of making it big in the major tournaments. Mashrafe Mortaza & Co will like to draw confidence from those victories, and their recent tri-series win as they march towards the World Cup.

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There will be a lot of expectations from Bangladesh from their fans back in the country. Mashrafe Mortaza in a chat with Cricbuzz admitted that they have brought the best players available. He also revealed the World Cup will be a different ball game altogether and there will be a lot of hurdles for his team.

“The ones who are here are currently the best available options. You can always debate about two or three players who are not in the team but still I feel we have gone into the World Cup with our best available options. The World Cup is a completely different challenge. There will be many high scoring matches in the World Cup. There are a lot more challenges waiting there (for us),” he said.

The wickets in England have been flat, and target above of 300 is also not safe. In the recently concluded series between England and Pakistan, the host chased down 340+ totals in three consecutive matches. Mashrafe Mortaza said that putting 350 will be an outstanding effort from their side, but they will have to post anything 300 if they bat first.

“We have to be with that mind setup that, 300 or 330, 350 might be a far shot, that would be an outstanding performance. But we have to keep 300, 320-330 in our mind setup. We have to score them if we bat first, we have to score them if we chase,” he concluded.

Bangladesh will play South Africa in the tournament opener on June 2 followed by matches against New Zealand and England to start the tournament.