Off-spinner Mahedi Hasan believes Bangladesh will not be overconfident when they take on Zimbabwe in the second and final T20I of the series at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka Wednesday.
Host Bangladesh are on cloud nine as they are unbeaten in the bilateral series against Zimbabwe.
Bangladesh started with a dominating win in the one-off Test match last month and maintained the supremacy, sweeping the ODI series 3-0.
Monday, they continued with the momentum in the first T20I in Mirpur, winning the game by 48 runs.
Batting has been Bangladesh’s strongest forte in all the formats, making it easy to register wins against lower-ranked Zimbabwe.
#Soumya feels competition for position helps team prosper https://t.co/ij4IUjliHd
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Going into the series-concluder, Bangladesh will look to maintain that but will not get carried away with complacency, said young spinner Mahedi.
“We are not showing overconfidence. One positive thing is that the batsmen who are playing are getting runs. Many are not getting chances in the lower-order. From the ODIs, you can see from one to five, all are getting chances to bat,” said Mahedi to the media at the team hotel in the capital Tuesday as the team took a day off.
In Tests, Bangladesh had one double century, one hundred and two fifties.
In the three ODIs, Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das rewrote some batting records.
In the first T20I, Bangladesh posted their third highest total in the format, 200 runs for the loss of three wickets, boosted with blistering half-centuries from Liton and Soumya Sarkar.
Powerful batting display takes #Tigers to victory https://t.co/KUvO2TIFjG
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“Batsmen in the lower-order are not even getting a chance. They are also willing to get some runs. Overall, we are not overlooking them. It doesn’t matter if it is Zimbabwe or any other team, in T20 cricket momentum can change any time. In that case we should play with more caution, and be focused in the last match, Inshallah we will do it,” said the 25-year old Mahedi.
Mahedi revealed that the atmosphere in the dressing room was the key behind Bangladesh coming with a positive mindset against the opponents.
Mahedi returned to the national dressing room after almost two years and found the seniors discussing how to take on the opponents, and T20I captain Mahmudullah spreading positive vibe inside the team.
“I have been listening to this from the seniors in the dressing room since the beginning of the T20I series. That we will play like dominant force, whatever happens. Riyad (Mahmudullah) bhai was spreading positive vibe in the dressing room. If we play with strong mindset in the upcoming events like this, we will be successful Inshallah,” said Mahedi.
In their next assignment, Bangladesh will complete the last part of the three-phase tour of Pakistan, playing one ODI and the second and final Test of the series against the host nation.
#BCB restricts ticket sales over #coronavirus fears https://t.co/6SpBd5Uihh
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In their first two parts of the tour, Bangladesh were found wanting in Pakistan, in the three-match T20I series and the first Test.
Though Bangladesh will tour Pakistan in April, provided concerns over the coronavirus decrease, Mahedi believes momentum from the matches against Zimbabwe would help Bangladesh to be motivated.
Bangladesh will play the lone ODI on April 1, followed by the Test starting on April 5.
Both the matches will be played in Karachi.
“Basically it depends on how you play [against Pakistan]. Almost everything is going good for us here and we are also trying to do well. Earlier, when big teams came here to Bangladesh, we whitewashed them. In that case, confidence is important. Since our confidence has risen up in this series, I think we will do well in our next series,” said Mahedi.
