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Ahead of Bangladesh's three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, the Bengal Tigers skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto hoped that it would be a "good" series.
The first match of the three-game T20I series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be played on Monday in Sylhet. While speaking at the pre-match press conference, Shanto said that Bangladesh working hard to win the series against Sri Lanka. "I think it will be a good series. We are doing everything we can to win this series. I am not feeling pressure about our opponents. We are focused on what we are doing. We want to do what we can control. Every international series has pressure, and that's also true for our opponents. Everyone is capable of handling this pressure. Like I believe that all of our five or six bowlers can be match-winners," Shanto was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying. The Bangladesh skipper expected that it would be a "very competitive" T20I series against Sri Lanka. "First and foremost, I expect this to be a very competitive series between two good sides," he said. "What happened in the past, for me, that's history. It's gone. I think what we have to do is, certainly from our perspective, is concentrate on what's in front of us and remember what we're aiming for. Obviously, we are now in the build-up towards the World Cup. I think all teams now are sort of finalising their sides, their squads give an experience, so ultimately that's what it is," he added. He further added that they are preparing for the forthcoming T20 World Cup and the 20-over series against Sri Lanka would help them to do that. "We're building up to a World Cup, and it's great that we have such a good competition in front of us to do that, great series to do that in. So, as I said, I'm expecting a very exciting series. There's some dangerous players on both sides. So I think it'll be good fun. But as I said, what's happened in the past is history. It's about what's in front of us now," he added. Shanto will lead a strong Bangladesh squad in the six limited-overs matches at home against Sri Lanka next month. Veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan continues to recover from the retinal issue that was discovered last month and misses out on the squads. The first match of the three-game T20I series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be played on March 4 in Sylhet. The second and third matches of the series will take place on March 6 and 9. The last two matches of the series will also take place at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet. Bangladesh T20I squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Litton Kumer Das, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Md Naim Sheikh, Tawhid Hridoy, Soumya Sarkar, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Mahmudullah, Taijul Islam, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Aliss Al Islam. (ANI)
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