‘Definitely going to miss Mushfiqur’

As the wound from the recently concluded T20 World Cup campaign still fresh, Bangladesh team now aim to start anew ahead of the three-match T20I series against Pakistan.

Mahmudullah and his troops are keen to move on from the world cup debacle and combat the upcoming challenge, as stated by the Bangladesh captain during the pre-match press conference ahead of the first T20I match, set to take place at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur tomorrow from 2 pm Bangladesh time.

"We also knew about the expectations for the world cup, however, we failed to meet them," said Mahmudullah.

"I believe it's very important for the Bangladesh team to have a good start, and we hope to do that in this series," the skipper added while expressing his view about Mushfiqur Rahim's absence from the Tiger's T20 squad.

"I believe this is solely the decision of the team management. At this moment, I don't want to say anything.

"But all I can say is that we are definitely going to miss Mushfiqur."

Bangladesh cricket have seen a bunch of brilliant batting partnerships between Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur over the years. According to Mahmudullah, he is unaware of Mushfiqur's comments regarding missing out from the squad.

"Look, I don't even know what Mushfiq said. Let me look into it first, then I can probably say something on that. It's better to ask about his absence to the team management," the 35-year-old stated.

Despite the new inclusions have not been properly tested in the T20 format, the veteran cricketer believes that he can take the challenge of playing alongside them.

"There will always be challenges whether you're experienced or new. The job is to not think too much about that and give one's best effort instead," Mahmudullah added while informing about the Mirpur pitch that raised many questions in the recent past.

"I hope it will be a good wicket. Yes, it will be a big challenge for us to play good cricket in this series after the world cup and I believe this is a good opportunity to prove our ability," said the skipper, who went on to admire the bowling of Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has been lethal throughout the latest World Cup for the Men in Green.

"Shaheen Shah has played a major role in most of their matches, especially with the new ball.

"We definitely have that in our mind and we have analysed him. I hope we can perform well against him," Mahmudullah concluded.