The stage is set for the opening match of the Asia Cup T20 2016. Hosts Bangladesh will face India, who are the best T20 side in the world currently.
Bangladesh's T20 record at home or away has not been great. Also, they have never won a T20 game against India. Therefore, there will be a lot of pressure on Mashrafe Mortaza and his men when they take the field against India on Wednesday at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka.
However, Bangladesh cannot be underestimated in their home conditions. They have plenty of talented players in their side, chief of them being Mustafizur Rahman, who made his stellar debut against India in an ODI series at home last year.
Bangladesh captain Mortaza is banking on the young left-arm seamer to deliver against India.
"You can do your homework against Mustafizur but it might not work. Mustafizur has many variations of his slow cutters. It is only important as to how confident he is about the execution part. He does he not focus on opposition batsmen and only concentrates on what he knows best," Mortaza was quoted as saying by PTI.
Mortaza, who believes India currently have the best batting lineup in the world, also agreed that Mustafizur alone cannot win them games, and, therefore, the other players will also have to chip in, in order to better their T20 record ahead of the ICC World T20 2016, which starts from March 8 in India.
"It is a different format and Mustafizur alone cannot win us matches. The others will also have to chip in. Our T20 record has not been that great but that does not mean we can't improve," Mortaza added.
"This tournament is our chance to prepare for the big event. We should not be afraid of failures."
Bangladesh bowlers will face a top-class India batting order on Wednesday. It will take perfect execution to remove the top half of the Indian batting order, as they have been in very good form in this format of the game.
