Mahmudullah, Bangladesh's stand-in Twenty20 skipper, aims at removing the question marks surrounding his side's ability as a T20 unit when they take on Sri Lanka in a two-match series from Thursday.
Bangladesh enjoyed good fortune in their own den in the recent past but things did not go their way during the tri-nation series or the Test series that followed with Sri Lanka clinching the trophy on both occasions.
Mahmudullah, who was named to lead the side after Shakib al Hasan was ruled out of the opening game with a finger injury, said that they were keen to put to rest the doubts that constantly were on their backs and that they were making progress as a T20 side, just as they have made in the other two formats.
"Twenty20 is a different format all together and the pace of it is quite different from other formats," Mahmudullah said in Mirpur on Wednesday ahead of the last leg of the month-long series.
"We have to remove the question mark that is attached with us as a Twenty20 unit," he said. "We are keen to give a message to all the teams in the world that we are developing in the same pace when it comes to Twenty20 comparing to Test and ODIs," he said.
Mahmudullah did not believe that playing at home put pressure on them as the expectations were always high considering the fan following in the nation.
"We have raised the expectations by playing well at home for the last three years and unfortunately we could not deliver in this series," he conceded. "There is another opportunity in front of us and we must grab it," he said.
Bangladesh need to put up a proper account of their ability in the shortest version as they are currently placed 10 - ranked below Afghanistan and Sri Lanka - with their below par outcome in Twenty20 largely being attributed to not playing enough games in the format.
Bangladesh, however, have quite a few T20 games scheduled over the next couple of months with their series against Sri Lanka being followed by the Nidhas Cup in Sri Lanka, comprising India and the hosts to celebrate the 70th independence anniversary of the Island nation, which will be followed by a T20 series against West Indies in June.
[Mirpur pitch rated as “below average”]
David Boon of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees has rated the Mirpur Test pitch between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as “below average” and, as such, it has received one demerit point according to the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.
Boon, whose report has been forwarded to the Bangladesh Cricket Board, said: “From day one, there was evidence of the ball breaking the pitch surface, which resulted in uneven bounce throughout the match, along with inconsistent turn, which was even excessive at times. This pitch produced a contest that was too heavily skewed in favour of the bowlers, and didn’t give the batsmen a fair chance to display their skills.”
Sri Lanka won the Test by 215 runs inside three days with 681 runs being scored for the loss of 40 wickets. Roshen Silva with 70 not out was the top-scorer of the match.
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