Bangladesh T20I captain Mahmudullah predicted a competitive series in the upcoming five T20Is against visiting Australia starting from Tuesday in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Australia are touring Bangladesh after four years and this is the first time these two teams are competing in a series in the 20-over format.
Bangladesh are sitting in 10th position (222 rating points) in the ICC T20I ranking where Australia are in fifth position (248 rating points).
England are leading the chart with 278 rating points.
Mahmudullah believes the Tigers are a competitive side on home soil, considering results in the last few years, and the upcoming series will be exciting although both the teams are missing some key players in their batting line-up.
“I personally believe any team can win any day with solid performance in T20 cricket. Obviously they are missing some key players. Although they are missing some of their important players, they are a very strong side," said Mahmudullah in a virtual press conference Monday.
“We have to play our best cricket to defeat them. It's important how we apply our skills and application, keeping in mind the match situation and condition. I think it will be a good, competitive series. We are confident and hopefully we will play our best cricket in the series.”
Bangladesh won the recent T20I series 2-1 against Zimbabwe away a few days ago and young players performed well overall in that challenging tour.
Batsmen like Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shamim Patwary and Afif Hossain in the middle-order are giving new hope to skipper Mahmudullah and he might bat a bit earlier in the coming series rather than his usual No 5 or 6 position.
Mahmudullah believes a five-match series at home against a strong opponent like Australia will give a very good chance for the players to increase their confidence ahead of the World T20I which will be held later this year.
“We are also missing a few crucial players in our side. We are missing Tamim (Iqbal), Liton (Das), Mushfiqur (Rahim) here. It’s a good opportunity for other players, particularly young players. Bearing in mind that the World T20I is just a few months away, we can earn some much needed confidence from this series," said Mahmudullah.
"I always believe we are a very much competitive team on our home soil and we will try to prove it once again in this series."
