"You have to win every ball against Sri Lanka," declared Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful yesterday.

According to the new captain, the big difference between the other top-ranked sides and the islanders is that the Lankans always love to put pressure on their opponents from the very first ball.

"Sri Lanka attack from the very first ball and what I have realised is that they read our gameplan quickly and that has put us under a lot of pressure," he added.

"It will be difficult to stop us if we take control in the early stages but we should also know how to give our best in very difficult situation," the 23-year-old right-hander warned.

Ashraful felt that his boys should play with courage against the formidable opponents if they want to bury their dismal show in the three-match Test series.

"We should play with guts and I believe that this young side are courageous enough to enhance our reputation in the one-day game. I would prefer everybody, including Tamim Iqbal, to play their natural game but we should also be aware of the responsibility.

"The main objective is to win and I believe we have the ability to be successful against any team in one-dayers if we play to our potential. We have proved it time and again but the real problem is that we are not consistent. I don't want to say that we will 'just play good cricket'.

Fully aware of the vulnerable top-order, Ashraful said: "Our top-order should play their best. We have a very long batting order as there are a number of all-rounders and I am more hopeful because Murali and Vaas are not around."

Bangladesh coach Shaun Williams also echoed with his captain's sentiment.

"We are confident of putting up a better performance. To do that, our batting must click. I was disappointed with our top-order in the practice match with the exception of Tamim (Iqbal) when we lost half the side below hundred. But we showed that we had the batting depth and we didn't panic with Aftab leading the way, batting at six," he said.

The Australian also valued his team's three-wicket victory in the practice game on Wednesday.

"We have quite a few new players who have come into the one-day team and one of them is Aftab who played a fabulous knock to steer us to victory in the practice game. I must say it was a good win for us ahead of the series," Shaun observed.

Except one victory in 19 previous matches, Bangladesh have hardly had anything encouraging against the islanders and the reality is that they are going to play the series on the back of a nightmarish Test series. So it is hard to think about anything extraordinary from the Tigers but the only hope is that they have sometimes sparkled against all odds.