Tigers' Champions Trophy camp starts in Mirpur

The Bangladesh national cricket team has begun a five-day training camp in Mirpur, just after the conclusion of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), in preparation for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, which will take place in Pakistan and the UAE from February 19.

The first session of the training camp started on Saturday at 2.00pm at Mirpur's Sher-e- Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. The camp will run until February 12, after which the team will head to Dubai. Bangladesh will play a warm-up match against Pakistan 'A' on February 15, followed by their Champions Trophy opener against India on February 20. The team will face New Zealand and host Pakistan in the group stage on February 24 and 27, respectively.

During the ongoing BPL, senior assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin began preparing several players for the Champions Trophy. With the tournament now finished, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and his teammates are fully committed to their training. Shanto, who faced batting struggles in the BPL, determined to place significant focus on improving his performance with the bat. Despite scoring just 41 runs in one of the five BPL matches he played, Shanto is determined to lead his team to success in the Champions Trophy.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided to rest several players, particularly the pace bowlers, during the training camp to help them recover from the toll of consecutive BPL matches.Head coach Phil Simmons, along with Salahuddin and spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed, have joined the team for the camp, while the rest of the coaching staff will meet the team in Dubai.

Although the BPL provided valuable match practice, it was in the T20 format, and questions remain about how prepared the 'Tigers' are for the ODI format.

Furthermore, Bangladesh's recent ODI record raises concerns, with the team suffering a 3-0 whitewash against the West Indies and a series loss to Afghanistan. In 2022, Bangladesh only played 9 ODIs, winning 3 and losing 6, including 4 consecutive defeats. As the team heads into the Champions Trophy, they are playing catch-up in terms of preparation compared to other competing nations.