Dhaka: In spite of Bangladesh’s big victory in the Test series against the visiting West Indies, one-day International captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has refused to accept the ‘favourite’ tag before heading into the three-match one-day rubber.

‘They have some rampant fast bowlers who are able to bowl at a great pace. We might have to face pressure if we lose early wickets to them,’ said Mashrafe while speaking to media in the pre-match press conference, reports the UNB.  

The first match of the day-night series begins tomorrow at 1:00 pm here at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. 

Bangladesh beat the Windies in their last one-day International and T-20 away series in late July. 

‘Their muscle power works better in the limited-over cricket. We will have to make sure they cannot make big stands. We need to think about these things. I would love to say we have equal opportunity in the series,’ said Mashrafe.   

‘If we do well in every department, there is a chance for us. Especially the behavior of the wicket during batting will determine a lot of things. If it helps during the batting, it will be a challenge for the bowlers. And more importantly, judging the wicket will be very crucial.’ 

The Windies were totally outplayed in the two-match Test series where Bangladeshi spinners bagged all 40 of their wickets. But this time around, the home boys might rely more on their pace arsenal as the Tiger skipper said: ‘In the 50-overs cricket, everyone tries to hit the ball. In that case, if you don’t have extraordinary spinners (don’t go for more spinners). Miraz and Shakib are doing well, but you have to see the success rate of our pacers in the flat tracks.’

Mashrafe’s claim in favour of the pacers is also backed by the stats as out of 61 scalps 37 were taken by the pacers in last two years on home soil.