'We can beat SA'

Pakistan and West Indies may be planning to make a last-ditch effort to seal a spot in the 2017 Champions Trophy, but Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was least bothered with the latest development.

Mashrafe received a number of calls from various media personnel yesterday after the news had spread that Zimbabwe's limited overs series in August with Pakistan is expected to become a tri-series with the West Indies set to join the party as competitors to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy.

"I think it's better for us to keep faith on our team's strength rather than what is happing around the world. There is no point in focusing and thinking about such issues and I don't like to talk about these issues also. Now our main focus is on the next series against South Africa," said Mashrafe, who led his side to a 2-1 series victory against India which saw them claim the number seven spot in the ODI rankings.

"What is our main challenge now? The challenge is to continue our good brand of cricket against South Africa. The challenge is to maintain the consistency in our performances. That should be our main focus. Suppose we don't qualify to the Champions Trophy, what happens, will our world end? No. We have a long way to go to establish ourselves as a big team in world cricket and we must focus on how we can achieve that. You cannot achieve everything overnight," he added.

While the skipper expects a tough challenge from South Africa, he is confident that the Tigers can continue their good run. South Africa will arrive in Dhaka on June 30 to play two T20 Internationals, three ODIs and two Tests. The series will begin with T20Is on July 5 and 7.

"South Africa are very tough opponents, but we will go for the win against them. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose but we have to make sure that we play good, positive cricket and I believe if we can continue our positive approach we will win more matches in the coming days," said a confident Mashrafe.

Though the preparation camp for the South Africa tour is scheduled to begin on June 29, Mashrafe had already begun practicing yesterday. "My fitness is not satisfactory to me due to the injury before the India series and that's why I have decided to start early," said Mashrafe.