[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

2019 marks the twentieth anniversary of Bangladesh's first appearance at the Cricket World Cup, a tournament which saw them claim a famous landmark victory over Pakistan, and now the Bengali boys are back where it all began. It's been a slow but fruitful journey for the one-time minnows, who cracked the ODI top eight a few years ago and still sit above West Indies and Sri Lanka in the rankings, and in that time the World Cup has given them some memorable moments including an opening game win over India in 2007 and the victory against England that took them to their first quarter-final in 2015. Eight of the players who appeared back then remain in a fairly stable squad, but their ODI form ever since has been a mixed bag. A win against New Zealand was their only high point in the 2017 Champions Trophy; they completed a historic series win in the West Indies last year, then reached the final of the Asia Cup before further series wins at home to the West Indies and Zimbabwe, but New Zealand took them to the cleaners in March, delivering a chastening reminder that foreign climes are seldom beneficial to Tigers.

That said, I'd expect them to comfortably avoid embarrassment and dish out one or two bloody noses this summer. Unusually for a subcontinent side they're without a wrist-spinner, but a handy pace-attack led by left-armer Mustafizur "The Fizz" Rahman may be enough to compensate; certainly expect The Fizz to pick up plenty of wickets at the back end of an innings. Tamim Iqbal remains the run-scoring talisman, though he's yet to find a settled opening partner; nevertheless, having spent a month in Ireland to accustom themselves to conditions, and won their tri-series against the hosts and the West Indies in that time, the Tigers have given themselves the best possible chance of a decent showing in England. Unlikely to make the knockout stages but also unlikely to be wooden spooners, 2019 will be all about the scalps they can claim, as they've been doing consistently for twenty years.

Highest World Cup total: 322-4 vs Scotland (Nelson, 2015)
Lowest World Cup total: 58 vs West Indies (Dhaka, 2011)
Leading World Cup run-scorer: Shakib Al Hasan, 540 runs
Leading World Cup wicket-taker: Shakib Al Hasan, 23 wickets


Tournament Schedule: South Africa, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Australia, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan