Photo: Collected
Bangladesh are getting a chance to test their preparations before the Asia Cup and the World Cup. The team’s aim is to do well in the tri-nation series against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi. Mosaddek Hossain believes that winning this competition will allow the cricketers to play the following tournaments with confidence.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the Bangladesh cricketer recalled the tri-nation series of 2019. Bangladesh won the title in that tournament in Ireland, and he believes that success will be an inspiration this time too. Mosaddek said, ‘The 2019 tri-nation series is an inspiration for us. The Asia Cup is coming up, and then the World Cup. If we can win these tri-nation series, I feel we will gain a lot of confidence going forward.’
He also believes there is no scope for taking the opposition lightly. In his view, the gap between sides in one-day cricket has narrowed and every team has been playing well of late. Mosaddek said, ‘In modern cricket there is no scope to look down on any team. In modern cricket no country or team can be called small. Of late everyone has been doing very well in the one-day format.’
The cricketer is placing more emphasis on improving their own performance in the tri-nation series; if they can do well here, he believes, it will be easier to handle the difficult situations of the Asia Cup and the World Cup. Mosaddek said, ‘I feel this is a challenge for us, to see how well we can do here. If we can do well as a team during these times, the challenges that come in the Asia Cup, or in the World Cup after the Asia Cup, will be easier for us.’
He also stressed collective effort alongside individual skill for the team’s success. In his view, only by playing well as a team on the field can they prove their ability. Mosaddek said, ‘If we can play good cricket on the field, that will prove a lot about how good a team we are. From that point of view, all of us together have to prove how well we can play as a team. Cricket is not an individual game, it is entirely a team game. So how well we can do as a team is the biggest challenge before us.’