Tigers depart for Zimbabwe

Chief communication officer of Grameenphone Rubaba Dowla holds the Grameenphone Cup, which will be presented to the winners of the five-match one-day series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Grameephone is the title sponsor of the series starting in Harare on August 9.

After a historic triumph the Bangladesh cricket team was scheduled to leave the Caribbean yesterday for Zimbabwe to play a five-match one-day series entitled the "Grameenphone Cup". It would be a long journey for Shakib Al Hasan's men who will reach Zimbabwe via London and Dubai on August 6. The first match of the five-match series will take place at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo on August 9.

Left-arm spinner Enamul Haque -- who was named as the replacement of injured Abdur Razzak, BCB's director Gazi Ashraf Hossain -- who accompanies the team as a head of the team management during the tour, and selector Akram Khan will join the team in Dubai tomorrow.

It will be a huge challenge for the Tigers to carry on their good showing in the Caribbean as they whitewashed the weakened home team both in the three-match one-day and two-match Test series.

Bangladesh finished their month-long trip with a five-wicket defeat in the lone T20 international at Warner Park, St Kitts on Sunday but it was a memorable trip for the Tigers as for the first time they won the Test and one-day series against a major cricket nation.

World's number one all-rounder in one-day rankings Shakib led the team from the front in the absence of regular skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who has been ruled out of the tour due to a knee injury, and he will also lead the team in the five-match series in Zimbabwe.

One of the leading cellular companies in the country, Grameenphone, is the first Bangladeshi company to sponsor an overseas cricket series. This was announced at a press conference at the Grameenphone head office in Gulshan yesterday.

Rubaba Dowla, chief communications officer of Grameenphone and Ferdousur Rahman, AGM, market communication, were present at the press conference. The sponsorship is valued at around BDT 5 million and includes full title rights, prize money and rights to branding the stadium, and other communications and Grameenphone will also provide the Man-of-the-Match and the Man-of-the-Series prizes.

All matches will be held at the Queens Sports Club.