Bangladesh skipper Shanto Najmul Hossain on Friday promised that his new-look team will play aggressive brand of cricket in the upcoming T20 series against India, saying that the Test series defeat is now behind them. India whitewashed Bangladesh 2-0 in the Test series, winning the Kanpur game in mere six sessions. The T20 series will begin in Gwalior on Sunday at the brand new Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium.
“We are looking to win this series, to be very honest. We want to play aggressive cricket. If you look at our last World Cup, we had a very good opportunity to play in the semi-finals but we couldn’t do that. But, it’s a new team. So, I hope all the players will play some good cricket here,” Shanto told reporters.
The skipper said he won’t think about his team’s struggle in the Test series.
“We all know we didn’t play our best cricket (in Tests). So, we are not thinking about what we have done before. Going forward, it’s a very important series for us and we all know in T20 it’s a totally different ball game. That particular day, those who are playing well, will win the match.” Both India and Bangladesh will have new-look teams taking the field with senior players making way for the youngsters.
India will have an entirely new squad, led by Suryakumar Yadav while Bangladesh will have only five players in their T20 squad who were also part of the Test squad.
Shanto said since the series-opener is at a new ground, the pitch behaviour would remain a guess work.
“We know this is a very different ground, new ground and we don’t have much idea about the wickets. But, we had practice sessions last couple of days and we tried to find out how the wickets behave.
“We don’t know how the surface will behave. But, as an international team, we need to adjust as early as possible.” Shanto was hopeful that his team will be able to turn it around in the T20 series due to the “In T20Is, you never know. It’s important that on a that day, batting, bowling, fielding, those who are doing all the stuff well, that team will win. But, it’s not about big names or new players or old players. So, it’s important that particular day we need to play well.”