In the month of May, the focus will shift to international cricket as Bangladesh will be playing a three-match ODI series against Ireland in England. The first fixture of the series is scheduled to take place on 9th May at County Cricket Ground, Chelmsford. Both teams met in March this year as Ireland was on a tour of Bangladesh to play all the formats of the game.
Ireland is coming home after touring Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series. They lost both fixtures, but the team will be confident enough to play against Bangladesh on England's pitch.
Bangladesh has come out as a strong team at their home grounds but they always find it difficult to win matches on the foreign grounds.
We expect Ireland to pick up a win in the 1st match of the series.
The betting tip is...
Joshua Little will pick three wickets.
In recent times, Ireland has come out as a surprise package when it comes to the limited-over format of the game. They tend to give a hard time to the opposition and sometimes stun everyone with a win.
Gareth Delany will be the key player for Ireland as he has recently gained his form back in the ODI format. The 23-year-old pacer Joshua Little will also join the team for the series and will be missing out on some matches in IPL.
Ireland will have the availability of all the players to start the game against Bangladesh.
Predicted Lineup: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Paul Stirling, Stephen Doheny, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, George Dockrell, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Joshua Little, Andy McBrine
Bangladesh players have already reached England and they are preparing themselves to face Ireland. The primary concern for the team management will be weak fielding. In the past matches, the players have missed out on some important catches and have given loose runs because of misfields. Another concern will be the failure of the team on foreign grounds.
Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman will be missing out on a few matches in IPL and will be joining the team for the ODI series.
Predicted Lineup: Tamim Iqbal (c), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Yasir Ali, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Rony Talukdar, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ebadot Hossain, Taijul Islam, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud
Ireland is getting a major push with the return of Joshua Little. Bangladesh is missing out on Litton Das and that will be a major blow.
We predict a win for Ireland in the first ODI, because Bangladesh has performed below average on foreign grounds.