Rhodes keeps grounded despite big World Cup expectations

Since the announcement of the World Cup squad by the national selectors certain quarter gave it the tag of Tigers strongest WC squad so far and if statistics are taken into account not many can deny that.
 
There are four players in Bangladesh squad who will join in their fourth World Cup mission while there are seven cricketers making their maiden World Cup appearance.
 
Bangladesh is the second most capped team in this World Cup -Mashrafe Mortaza (206 caps), Shakib Al Hasan (196 caps), Mushfiqur Rahim (202 caps), Mahmudullah (172 caps) and Tamim Iqbal (190 caps) and their combined appearance amounts 1299 ODI’s just behind India who will be fielding the most capped cricketers in their squad as they have combined 1573 appearances among them.
 
The mixture of experience and youth will certainly give the men in green and red edge over others in the global tournament and in a cricket crazy country the hype is getting higher with each passing days.
 
Bangladesh is currently taking part in a tri-nation series in Ireland to complete their last segment of preparation for the World Cup and the way they began their campaign against West Indies indicated they are not going to be just a mere spectator in the upcoming competition.
 
However, Rhodes remained guarded against placing high-hopes in front of the media while somehow he never looked convincing when he was asked how far his team can go in the tournament, scheduled to begin in England from May 30th.
 
‘’I wish I had a crystal ball and I could see Bangladesh and it would be wonderful to get into the later stages and having a chance of getting [there in the final],’’ Rhodes told reporters when his attention was drawn regarding their chances in the World Cup.  
 
‘’Knock out games suits us because we are dangerous. There are so many top team and I can’t see future, England is favorite and India is a quality team as well as Australia is coming back to form and all the other teams are dangerous and that’s what makes watching this world cup special,’’ he said.
 
If the World Cup squads of the ten participating countries are taken into consideration it clearly suggests that Bangladesh will be going into this tournament with one of the most experienced squads.
 
Caribbean superstar Chris Gayle will take part in his fifth World Cup and he could have been accompanied by Mashrafee if only the later had not missed the 2011 World Cup due to injury.
 
Mashrafee played his first world cup in 2003. Tamim,Shakib and Musfiq have been playing in the world cup for Bangladesh since 2007. Mahmudullah and Rubel will participate in their third World Cup campaign. 2019 World Cup will be the second world cup of Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarker.
 
The seven new kids on the platoon are: Liton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman and Abu Jayed.
 
However, Bangladesh will not be the only team with seven World Cup debutants as all the other team on an average will have the same amount of freshmen in their squad for the competition.
 
While Bangladesh have four members playing their fourth World Cup there are only four cricketers in this world cup who have played in three World Cup- Mahendra Singh Dhoni(India), Ross Taylor (New Zealand), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) and Chris Gayle (West Indies).
 
In Australia team, only Steven Smith has the experience of playing in two World Cups while nine cricketers among their 15-member squad will make their World Cup debut as they have five members in their squad who have the experience of playing in just one world cup.
 
Host England’s captain Eoin Morgan is their most experienced player in this World Cup with the experience of playing just two World Cup while this will be the first World Cup for the eight players in their squad. The other six members in the squad will be playing in their second world cup and among them Liam Plunkett is making a comeback after 2007 World Cup.   
 
Virat Kohli is the most experienced player for India after Dhoni in the tournament as the Indian skipper will be playing in his third World Cup. It will be the first World Cup for the seven members in their squad. They have six players who will take part in their second World Cup. Dinesh Karthik was in the squad of 2007 world cup for India but he didn’t play in any match. 
 
New Zealand is perhaps the only team that can compete with Bangladesh in terms of experience and youth. They have six players who have played in the World Cup before and they also have nine non world cup experienced players. Ross Taylor has vast experience because he has participated in three previous world cups. Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Martin Guptil already played two World Cup while Mat Henry and Trent Bolt have played in 2015 World Cup in Australia.
 
Pakistan have the youngest squad with an average age at 27.3 in this World Cup while they made their World Cup debut in 1975 probably this is their most inexperienced squad as 11 members of their 15-member squad will make their debut in World Cup while Mohammad Hafiz will be their most experienced campaigner as he got the experience of taking part in two previous World Cup, though his inclusion depends largely on his recovery from the hand injury. For Shoaib Malik, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Harris Sohel it will be the second World Cup.
 
Sri Lanka has the oldest squad in the World Cup as the average age of their squad is 29.9, it will be the second World Cup for Afghanistan and none of the two nations are close to Bangladesh in terms of experience.
 
The Englishman had witnessed the technical and tactical lacking of Bangladesh in foreign island on quite a few occasions since taking over and probably that restricted him from making high-flying statements.
 
‘’If we take things easy than that would be dangerous and it was the case against Ireland [ practice game] and as you all know we got to be consistent and if we can be consistent with our cricket we will have more win,’’ he said.
 
‘’We all know we are capable of a bad game and my job and Mash job is to try so that we can be a little bit more consistent because if we do that maybe we can go long way in the tournament,’’ he concluded.