NOTTINGHAM: Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza is confident his side will provide more of a challenge to England in their upcoming three one-dayers than they did in last month`s Test series.
The Tigers face England in the first one-day international at Trent Bridge here on Thursday having been well beaten 2-0 by their hosts in a Test series that ended with an innings and 80 run rout inside three days at Old Trafford.
Bangladesh then lost all three of their matches at the subsequent Asia Cup one-day tournament in Sri Lanka.
But some of the Tigers` best results in their decade of top-flight international cricket have come in the one-day game, notably when they beat world champions Australia at Cardiff in 2005.
However, they have never beaten England in any format and the hosts come into Thursday`s match on the back of a 3-2 one-day series win over Australia.
Mortaza, appointed captain for this series after Shakib Al Hasan was dumped from the post, told reporters at Trent Bridge here on Wednesday: "It isn`t going to be easy against England. We have to play good cricket, hopefully we can do it and perform well this time.
"We are trying to play good cricket starting from the first match, that is our first ambition," the pace bowler added.
"England beat Australia in the first three matches so it is not going to be easy to win...we will concentrate on our own cricket, that is the main thing.
"I think we are a better team in one-day cricket than in Test cricket and I think this game suits us," the 26-year-old pace bowler explained.
"A few of the batsman are in good form and hopefully a few other guys can join in."
England will be without injured star batsman Kevin Pietersen, who they were planning to rest in any event although a series against Bangladesh might have been the ideal chance for the South Africa born shotmaker to end a sequence of 16 ODI innings without a fifty.
But Mortaza insisted Bangladesh took no comfort from Pietersen`s absence.
"Playing against Pietersen is a great experience for us. When KP plays we feel we can learn so many things from him, so it`s not good for us that he is injured."
Mortaza was due to captain Bangladesh away to a weakened West Indies last year but was ruled out early on through a knee injury, with Shakib leading the side instead to victories in both Test and one-day campaigns.
"I am glad to be back," Mortaza said. "Playing in England is always very exciting, there are a lot of Bangladeshis here who will hopefully come and support us."
Tamim Iqbal was the standout Bangladesh performer in the Test series, with the left-handed opener scoring centuries at both Lord`s and Old Trafford,
"Tamim is definitely the guy who can change the game for us," Mortaza said, "We are looking for him (to perform) but not just him: Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur, Jahurul Islam too. There are a few guys who can do good things and hopefully they will."
BDST: 2117hrs, July 7, 2010
