Our biggest improvement is change in mentality of players: Bangaldesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan

Last year, Bangladesh started their home season with a 2-1 series win over India, followed by a 3-0 win against World T20 Champions England in the T20I series. Later, they went on to beat Ireland comprehensively across all formats in a recently concluded home series. Apart from a 2-1 defeat to England, Bangladesh has looked extremely unbeatable at home.

Shakib led the team well in Test and T20Is and introduced an aggressive brand of cricket. He also made valuable contributions in ODIs.

The all-rounder said that a change in the team's mentality has helped them a lot over the last five months. He said that they realised the need for a better mentality during the ICC T20 World Cup last year. They fell just short of qualifying for the semifinal, losing to Pakistan in their last Super 12 clash. But the Asian side still enjoyed a solid campaign, winning against Zimbabwe and Netherlands and pushing India to its limits.

"I think our biggest improvement is in our mentality. During our last match of the T20 World Cup last year, we spoke about how we used to think of ourselves as a small team. We were not really a small team but if we believed in ourselves, we could have reached the semi-finals. We lacked in that area, so we felt that we needed to change that aspect. Especially those who were in the T20 World Cup squad have undergone that mental change," said Shakib as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

"This is an important year when we have the Asia Cup and the World Cup. We want to play well over the next six months. We did well in the first four months this year. We will be mostly playing ODIs this year, a format we feel we are good at," added the all-rounder.

Shakib had earlier said that Bangladesh's mentality shift in T20Is started during Asia Cup last year, which became apparent with their triumphs over India and England in white-ball cricket. In their 3-0 win over England, they used five bowlers in every game to assert themselves on the field.

The change in mentality helped in posting big scores against Ireland in ODIs and T20Is. Bangladesh also held the matches at Sylhet and Chattogram, moving away from Dhaka, where the Shere Bangla National Stadium helps the team's spinners, which is perceived to be its biggest strength.

The pacers are improving and teams feels the need to play on more batting-friendly surfaces ahead of the World Cup. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has given assent to senior's wishes to play more matches at Sylhet and Chattogram. More white-ball cricket is expected to happen at these two venues as team prepares for major tournaments.

BCB has also made changes in the head coach's role. Russell Domingo resigned as head coach after BCB made it clear that they wanted someone new in charge. He was already replaced by Sridharan Sriram in T20Is, but a couple of months after Russell's exit, Chandika Hathurusinghe returned for a second stint with the side.

Chandika was the choice of BCB chief Nazmul Hassan for a long while. The coach's vision has melded well with the players so far.

"We want the same results, ideally." Hathurusinghe had said before the Ireland T20Is. "That is what we talk about that we are going to do the same processes in place for us. If we do our processes, I think we are a very good team. That is what we want them to do - improve the processes every day," said Chandika. "It feels good anytime your team does well, especially when you have a plan in place before the series starts. Then we want to play on good wickets. We knew that our fast bowlers were good enough to give that kind of performance. When that comes to fruition, it gives a lot of confidence," added the coach.

Bangladesh pace bowling has improved and more pacers are being picked up in the squad. Fast bowling coach Allan Donald is aiming to widen the net with the next batch of fast bowlers from domestic, age group cricket.

Bangladesh's next assignment is a three-match ODI series against Ireland in Chelmsford next month, which is part of the ICC's ODI Super League. Bangladesh have already qualified to the World Cup, but Tamim Iqbal, the ODI captain, has mentioned his desire to finish higher up on the points table to go into the World Cup with some more pride and momentum. (ANI)