Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah has informed that the Tigers are focused on playing some good cricket and winning the T20I series against host Pakistan, rather than fret about security concerns, ahead of the first of three T20Is at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore Friday.
The Tigers arrived in Pakistan Wednesday night at 11:30pm and trained Thursday, putting the final touches to their preparation.
“We are not thinking about the security issues anymore. We are focusing on cricket and putting on a good show in the series. It’s great to be back in Pakistan and we are aiming to play good cricket here,” said Mahmudullah during the pre-match press conference Thursday.
“We know Pakistan are the top team in the T20I ranking. If we think too much about the ranking then it might affect our game. We know Pakistan are a strong team in T20Is. But our T20I performance graph is going good in the last few series. We are playing good cricket recently and we are hoping to repeat that in the series.
Mahmudullah and Pakistan's Babar Azam pose with T20I series trophy BCB
“We are hopeful with the team we have as our team are a mix of youth and experience. There are some young players in the team who have played well in the BPL (Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20). And we also have experienced players like myself, Tamim [Iqbal], Soumya [Sarkar], Mustafizur [Rahman], Rubel [Hossain], Al-Amin [Hossain], Shafiul [Islam]. We are looking forward to performing well as a team and winning the series here in Pakistan.”
Earlier, the Bangladesh team, led by all-rounder Mahmudullah, were whisked off to Pearl Continental Hotel in central Lahore under heavy security, reports AFP.
Some 10,000 policemen and para-military personnel will guard the team from hotel to Gaddafi Stadium for the three matches and practice sessions.
Former captain and senior batsman Mushfiqur Rahim withdrew from the tour over security fears.
Mahmudullah shares a light moment with Pakistan's Shadab Khan BCB Pakistan have gradually hosted international cricket after visits were suspended in 2009 following attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore, which left eight people dead and several visiting players injured.
Pakistan were forced to play home matches in the neutral venue of the United Arab Emirates.
Pakistan gradually hosted various limited over series between 2015-19 before Sri Lanka played two Test matches in December last year, the first in the country for 10 years.
This is Bangladesh's first tour to Pakistan in 12 years, having last played a five-match one-day series and Asia Cup - both in 2008.
