Taskin cautions Tigers over demanding Zimbabwe tour

Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed believes the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe will be a huge challenging assignment for the national team, citing the difficulty of playing in Zimbabwean conditions and the pressure that comes with facing a lower-ranked opponent.

Bangladesh are set to tour Zimbabwe for a one-off Test, three ODIs as many T20 internationals following their recent white-ball series against Australia.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Taskin said the Zimbabwe series would bring added pressure because any poor performance against the hosts would draw criticism despite Zimbabwe's strong record at home.

"Every day in life is a challenge. Every series is challenging. The Zimbabwe series coming up is even more stressful because they are playing in their own conditions. If we do badly against them, people will simply say we played badly against Zimbabwe," Taskin said.

The pace bowler stressed that Bangladesh's players are well aware of the challenge posed by Zimbabwe on home soil and warned against underestimating the hosts.

"The players know, and we know, how difficult it is to go to Zimbabwe and beat them in their conditions," Taskin who was rested from the one-off Test against Zimbabwe added.

Bangladesh head into the tour after a mixed series against Australia. Although Bangladesh secured a historic ODI series victory, later they were whitewashed 3-0 in the T20 series.

Taskin described such fluctuations as part of sport and insisted that no international assignment should be considered easy.

"Recently we won the ODI series against Australia, but unfortunately we lost the T20 series. Every series is challenging for us. Even tape-tennis cricket is challenging. The game is never easy," he said.    �"BSS