Bangladesh are all set to take on South Africa in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Sher-e-Bangla International Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka, on Friday.
The hosts suffered a 2-0 defeat in the hands of the Proteas in the recently concluded two-match T20 series. The Bangla Tigers would be raring to go out on the field and turn things around. Bangladesh have not lost a single ODI series since February 2014 at home and they would be looking to maintain that incredible record.
Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal is confident that his side have it in them to upset the visitors just like they outclassed a fancy Indian side in the ODI series last month.
"In the past year, the players have been reading ODIs much better and that's the reason I am sure that we will get more success in this format. So as a unit we are obviously confident. You can't lose all your confidence because of one or two defeats. When it comes to ODIs, we are a lot more confident unit and we will only grow in confidence," Iqbal told the reporters ahead of the first ODI against South Africa.
On the other hand, South Africa will be playing the ODI series without the services of their star batsman and skipper AB de Villiers. Faf du Plessis will hand over the captaincy to Hashim Amla who will be leading this upbeat Proteas side in the absence of De Villiers. Du Plessis, who was awarded the man of the series in the T20 series, felt that his side successfully put a dent on the confidence of the hosts after the T20 matches.
"I also appreciate and understand that one-day cricket is a different format so we will go back to making sure we prepare really well for the one day series," Du Plessis told the reporters.
