Bangladesh national team captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said that they will keep in mind the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup when they take on Zimbabwe in the five-match Twenty20 International series beginning at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today.
The first match of the series will start at 6:00pm with GTV and T-Sports televising the tie live.
Following the conclusion of the series on May 12, the Bangladesh national team will leave for USA on May 15 to play a three-match T20I against the hosts as a part of their buildup for the global event starting on June 1.
Shanto and his troops will begin the campaign on June 8 in Dallas in the fixture against Sri Lanka.
鈥楩irst of all, I would like to win this series. That is my first target as the captain. And obviously, it will be in our mind that this is a platform for our preparation [for the T20 World Cup],鈥� Shanto said on Thursday in Chattogram.
Despite being a Test-playing nation, Zimbabwe failed聽 to qualify for this year鈥檚 ICC T20 World Cup as they suffered defeats to Namibia and Uganda in the African leg of the qualifiers for the showpiece event.
As a result of that, Bangladesh are expected to have an upper hand in the series. Even the statistics between the sides in the T20Is also depict a grim picture for the visitors as they have earned only seven victories while Bangladesh have 13.
However, Shanto believes there is no big or small team when the format is T20. On top of that, Zimbabwe registered a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second of the three-match T20Is during their visit to the island nation in January this year.
鈥楾here are no big teams or small teams in T20 cricket. As you said, Zimbabwe lost to Uganda in the T20 World Cup qualifiers. This Zimbabwe team, however, defeated Sri Lanka a few days ago. So, there is not much of a difference if you think about it that way,鈥� he said.
On the other hand, although the visiting captain Sikandar Raza rued that they missed out on the pinnacle event, he hinted at a neck-to-neck contest in the series against the hosts.
鈥業 think that鈥檚 something [not qualifying for T20 World Cup] that will always be painful. Not just when we play, I think even when we retire. It鈥檚 not just pain that we鈥檙e feeling now; I think it鈥檚 something. hat we鈥檙e going to have to carry for a long time,鈥� he said.
鈥楾here are always great memories we create every time Zimbabwe Cricket as a national team comes together. Yes, sometimes, when you lose, you tend to focus on the painful ones. But I, certainly as an individual, try and look at some of the good memories that I鈥檝e made, even on the painful tours that I have been on.鈥�