Although the last practice game at the BKSP in Savar yesterday was called off without a ball being bowled, the good news for the Tigers was that it would be full strength for the second best one-day tournament after the World Cup with left-arm paceman Syed Rasel being declared fit to travel with the team.

"I must say the preparation was not ideal. It could have been nice for us if we could play today's practice match. It's not good that we played only one preparation game at home before such a big tournament," said skipper Bashar while elaborating his team's chances in the Champions Trophy that commences on October 7.

Fit-again Bashar, who returned home with a broken thumb midway through the Tigers' African tour in August, however, was excited about the lone practice game against Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) on October 4 before the real test against former world champions Sri Lanka in Mohali on October 7.

"We are looking forward to the only practice match in India," said the 33-year-old Bangladesh captain, adding that the target of his team in the Champions Trophy is to cross the first-round barrier.

"Our target is very simple. We want to play in the second round and I honestly believe that we have the ability to make it happen. Yes, it is tough as Sri Lanka are in very good form while West Indies played good cricket in their last tournament and Zimbabwe won the last series against us but still it is not impossible for us," said a confident Bashar.

Bangladesh along with Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Zimbabwe will compete in the qualifying round from where top two finishers will join the other six Test nations in the tournament proper.

"We have to win at least two games if we want to reach the second round that's why we will try to win all our three games. There have been much talk about the Zimbabwe match but it will not surprise me if we qualify for the main tournament beating the strong opponents," he explained.

Coach Whatmore also echoed his captain's sentiment but he was not too worried with the lack of match practice.

"I am not happy (with the preparation) but I'm not overly concerned. It would have been nice to get the second game though," said Whatmore.

"The West Indies played pretty well in the DLF Cup in Malaysia. They made it to the final. So, for us to make it through to the Champions Trophy proper, it will take really a good effort but we are capable of it," said the high-profile Bangladesh coach.

"The expectation is to qualify, number one. The expectation is also to play good hard cricket against everyone. Some people are saying that we can beat Zimbabwe easily in the sub-continent and also the West Indies but we have to push these teams and Sri Lanka really hard and that's our objective. If we want to play well and qualify then we have to do well in all three games and the players know that," continued the Sri Lankan born Australian.

Whatmore, whose prime concern has been the non-performing top-order, however tried to focus on some other areas that his boys still lack.

"Obviously most of the experts would say 'play straight', 'get a partnership at the top'. While I wouldn't disagree with that, you still need to get runs. The name of the game is to get runs. It is not just a matter of surviving against the new-ball, which I think anyone can do. You just block, block, block, play the odd maiden and then take one or two off an over and at the end of ten overs you have only 20 runs. So that's not the answer either. It is a balance between recklessness and total defensive batting," he said while explaining about a truly positive approach.

He admitted that the top-order as been a worry for him.

"Well, the top-order did fail, but out of eight matches we won five in Africa. Get this record straight. So it can be done. You can still win matches but it would be preferable to have the top-order doing well.

"It would be preferable to get some runs at the top. If we are able to get some good runs without losing too many wickets then that would be a nice start. At times we expose the middle order and the lower order a bit early that is not nice. But this is a young team and have tremendous potential," he added.

Replying to a question Whatmore said that they are yet to decide about who will open the innings with vice-captain Shahriar Nafees.

"Abeer (Shahriar Nafees) will be one of the openers. But we would like a little bit more time to give us some serious thought about who his partner will be. The conditions will be different in Mohali and Jaipur and the practice match is in Punjab. Not quite sure what the conditions will be like so we need to take into considerations all these factors," he said.

Meanwhile, chief selector Faruque Ahmed informed the press about Rasel's clearance.

"Our physio (Paul Close) has cleared him that's why we have decided not to replace him. Bashar and Mashrafee both are okay and Rasel will be hundred per cent fit before the tournament. We will field both Mashrafee and Rasel in the practice game on October 4 in India," informed Faruque.
TEAM
Habibul Bashar (captain), Shahriar Nafees (vice-captain), Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Rafique, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Mashrafee Bin Mortuza, Rajin Saleh, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Shahadat Hossain, Forhad Reza, Sakib Al Hasan and Mehrab Hossain Jr.