Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto hoped their fragile top-order would shine when the Tigers start their ICC T20 World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas today.
The match will begin at 6:30am Bangladesh Standard Time, and Nagorik TV will televise the tie live.
Constant failure of the top-order has been the major reason for Bangladesh鈥檚 recent debacle in T20 format, as in most of the cases, after getting a decent start, they failed to continue the momentum.
The Bangladesh-Sri Lanka rivalry has grown into a very spicy one over the years, and their last meeting in an ICC event saw the 鈥楾imed Out鈥� drama unfold. With South Africa in imperious form, the match is a must-win game for both the sides.
The Tigers lost the three-match series to the USA 1-2 and were thrashed by India in the World Cup warm-up fixture.
鈥榊es, it鈥檚 true that the top order has not performed recently. But tomorrow [Saturday] is a new day, and everyone is giving their 100 per cent and everyone is in a better shape now,鈥� Shanto said in the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
鈥榃e have to stop worrying about what happened in the past and [think that] tomorrow is a new day. I think on the new day, whoever gets set has to take the big responsibility of finishing well,鈥� he added.
When asked about the preparations leading up to and ahead of the opening game, Shanto seemed pretty satisfied.
鈥業 think we are well-prepared. We have tried to take full advantage of the facilities. We have looked to take the positives out of the training sessions. I think the players are ready,鈥� he said.
Sri Lanka are also under pressure after they suffered a six-wicket defeat to South Africa in their opening game in New York on Tuesday, where they were bowled out for a record low of聽 77.
Earlier, they also lost to Netherlands by 20 runs in their warm-up match.
But for Shanto, Sri Lanka being under pressure does not provide an advantage to Bangladesh, who are keen to avoid overthinking.
鈥楾he match will be a challenging one for both teams, of course. Whoever will play well will win the game. Everyone has prepared well, and I hope we鈥檒l be able to execute our plan,鈥� said the Bangladesh captain.
鈥楤ut like I said earlier, we don鈥檛 want to overthink but rather execute our plan. It鈥檚 important to stay in the present moment and not look too far ahead.鈥�
Both sides have faced each other 16 times to date, among which Bangladesh have won five, while Sri Lanka came out winning in the rest.
