We are preparing to play a full match: Mashrafe Mortaza

Mortaza confirms the team are preparing fora full game agains

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said that the team are preparing for a full game against Australia on Saturday. The chances of the game being played are minimal as Cyclone Marcia made landfall on the Queensland coast in the early hours of Friday. Both the teams had indoor practice sessions ahead of the match. Mortaza said the mindset of focussing on the shared point was a negative one, but he would not mind taking away one point.

He said that Bangladesh could struggle in the match due to their lack of experience of playing at the Gabba.

"I think it is negative to think of only the one point, We are preparing to play a full match. We don't want to play a curtailed game as forming a team combination becomes harder. We are disappointed with the rain but preparation difficulties have been there for both sides.”, Mashrafe said.

“We needed at least some time to bat and bowl in the nets here. We definitely want to play. It would be some experience playing against this Australian side.”

“We are not looking for the one point, but definitely playing against Australia, I feel like in Gabba it is a different experience. We'll have to see if the game is happening. If we can play good cricket in here, definitely it will help in the future against Sri Lanka, against New Zealand.”

Mortaza said that Bangladesh are likely to make changes to the line-up that beat Afghanistan,

"We have to get out of the winning combination, There are varied conditions in this tournament so we have to select a team according to those conditions.”

The Bangladeshi captain welcomed back Michael Clarke, who makes a return after a long time due to injury, but stressed that his side would do well not to think about Australia's batting line-up.

"He [Michael Clarke] is a great player, and definitely Australia need him," Mashrafe said. "It is good that he has come back into the side. We have nothing to lose in this match. We just need to play our best cricket. We can't think about their combinations or selection. They have enough superstars in their line-up to change the course of the match."