T20 World Cup is ahead. Before that, when Bangladesh’s opponent is Zimbabwe, then the bilateral series can easily be called a test series. The atmosphere of the first pre-match press conference of the five-match T20 series against Zimbabwe in Chittagong today was similar. Most of the questions arise from this idea that the Bangladesh team is a possible favorite in the series.
Against Zimbabwe in home conditions, this idea cannot be called wrong. Bangladesh will play as a ‘big team’ in this series. And big teams will want to test all possible combinations against opponents before any major tournament. Bangladesh is also thinking that way? Nazmul Hossain, the captain of the Bangladesh team, however, thought this way but did not say it openly.
Rather, Nazmul declared winning the series as the primary goal, “First of all, I want to win this series as a captain. That is the first goal. And preparation, of course, will be on our minds. It is not that we take the game lightly or do a lot of experiments while preparing. No testing is required. Because of the 15 players that are here, all of them have the ability to beat this team. I will not say preparation. I would say that we can go to the World Cup with good preparation and good preparation in some places.
A return to series winning streak after the last T20 series loss against Sri Lanka is crucial for the team’s confidence. Especially right before the World Cup. Many call this confidence ‘fake confidence’. Because, Zimbabwe is not in the T20 World Cup to be held in the West Indies and the United States next June. The team did not get a ticket to the World Cup after losing to Uganda in the qualifiers.
But Nazmul kept in mind the uncertainty of T20 and said, ‘There are no big teams or small teams in T20. As you said, Zimbabwe lost to Uganda. This Zimbabwe but beat Sri Lanka a few days ago. Thinking about it that way doesn’t make much of a difference. Here is how we play the match, how we prepare, how we build our confidence…. I can say this much, the series will not be so easy. It will be a very competitive series. Because, they are also a very good team.
