A new-look Bangladesh Legends side are determined to change their disappointing records as they prepare to compete in the upcoming second edition of the Road Safety World Series.

This year, the tournament will get underway on September 10 and four venues in India - Kanpur, Indore, Dehradun and Raipur – will host all 23 games of the competition.

The inclusion of New Zealand Legends have raised team numbers from seven to eight this year and the final of the tournament will be held on October 1.

India Legends earlier clinched the title of the maiden edition of the tournament after they defeated Sri Lanka Legends by 14 runs in Raipur last year.

Bangladesh Legends, who played five matches during the inaugural edition of the tournament last year, failed to earn a single victory and finished at the bottom of the points table.

However, the Bangladesh team made a wholesome change this year from their previous edition squad. 

A total of seven cricketers from the last tournament squad weren’t picked for this year’s tournament.

The new additions are: Alok Kapali, Shahadat Hossain Rajib, Tushar Imran, Dhiman Ghosh, Dolar Mahmud, Abul Hasan Raju, Elias Sunny and Nazmus Sadat.

Players like Abdur Razzak, Alamgir Kabir, Aftab Ahmed, Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Sharif, Mehrab Hossain Opi and Mohammad Nazimuddin, who were part of the last tournament squad, were also retained for this year’s tournament.

Hockey player Mamun ur Rasheed will fill the rest of the place in the team as a representative of athletes from other sports.

Experienced coach Rahul Sharma will be the head coach of the side and he is hopeful that Bangladesh Legends will be able to make a turnaround this year.

“As a coach, my main responsibility was to build a balanced team so that we can fight with our opponents. I’m very optimistic about the team. We will enjoy the game and hopefully, we will get a good result,” Rahul said.

Former Bangladesh all-rounder Sharif said that they’re much confident of getting a good result this time around.

“I played in last year’s tournament as well. We couldn’t do well in that tournament. We didn’t have a proper idea regarding the tournament last year. We thought it would be only a friendly tournament,” said Sharif.

“This year, each team has added a new set of players to their side to fortify their team. I can say that we have a good side this year. Hopefully, we will be able to produce better performance,” he added.

The Bangladesh Legends side, which are already in India to take part in the tournament, will begin their Road Safety World Series 2022 campaign against West Indies Legends on September 11 before they face New Zealand, Australia, India and Sri Lanka Legends on September 15, 18, 21 and 27 respectively.

The group stage matches will be followed by the semifinals and the final.

Reigning champions India will be led by none other than master blaster Sachin Tendulkar while West Indies great Brain Lara will lead the Caribbean side in the tournament.

Former all-rounder Shane Watson will be the captain of Australia Legends while Ross Taylor will lead the Kiwis and Ian Bell will captain England Legends.

Tillakaratne Dilshan will lead Sri Lanka Legends - the side which finished runners-up last year - while Jonty Rhodes will lead South Africa Legends in the upcoming tournament.

Bangladesh are yet to decide on their captain for the tournament but Kapali, Tushar, Shahadat and Sharif are top candidates to lead the side in the competition.