Aiming to upstage a depleted Indian team in the upcoming three-ODI series, Bangladesh batsman Tamim Iqbal said the matches provide the perfect opportunity for the home side to shrug off the recent run of poor form.
Bangladesh have endured a series of defeats cutting across all formats of the game this year and are desperately looking to break the jinx.
Iqbal felt with some of the top Indian players missing from action in the three-match series (from June 15 to 19), the home team has a good chance of emerging triumphant.
"We've been in bad phase. I think the series against India would be ideal to shrug off the bad patch. So we need to have a good start in the series," Tamim told reporters.
"We've been preparing well despite the scorching heat. We got an adequate time which we often didn't get in the past. We had played practice matches amongst us and utilised the time well. So we can hope for the best," he said.
The Indian team would be led by Suresh Raina after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was given a break along with some other top players such as Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin.
Iqbal felt the absence of key players like Dhoni and Kohli would work to his team's advantage.
"Absence of the batsman like Dhoni is a plus point for any team in the world. But those were selected for the Bangladesh tour are not a bad batsman at all. They are highly talented and moreover they have been in good form. They were the best performers of the IPL," he said.
"But big players can change the complexion of the game. However it might be an advantage for us that the players of the Indian team would be in pressure to justify their selection," he added.
