Shawdesh desk:

Bangladesh are all set to start their preparation for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup as they take on hosts United Arab Emirates in the two-match T20I series opener at Dubai International Cricket Stadium today. The match is scheduled to start at 08:00pm (BST) and will be telecast live on GTV.

The spectators in Dubai can watch the game live for free as there will be no tickets for the series.

Initially, the series wasn’t part of the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s plan and they were forced to take such initiative after the national team’s three-day camp at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium was spoiled due to the incessant rain.

The two-match series is expected to help the Tigers gain some confidence as their recent performance in the shortest format is quite disappointing considering the fact they won only two matches out of their 10 T20Is played in 2022.

Nurul Hasan Sohan will lead the side in the absence of Shakib Al Hasan while all eyes will be fixed to see whether Bangladesh use make-shift openers or try regular openers in the game. Bangladesh opened with Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Sabbir Rahman during their last game in the T20 Asia Cup against Sri Lanka. Liton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Soumya Sarkar are regular openers included in the squad.

“We will be in the field with our best team. We have New Zealand series in next and then World Cup. We are currently under a process. We will try to follow it,” Nurul said on Saturday. Bangladesh will play their second game against UAE on September 27 and they are expected to return home on the following day.

The Tigers are scheduled to fly to New Zealand on September 30 to feature in the tri-nation series involving them, Pakistan and the hosts, which is scheduled to start on October 7.

Later they will travel to Australia to play in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup.