Shakib Al Hasan
Bangladesh's No 1 cricketer Shakib Al Hasan believes his presence in an IPL dressing room along with pace bowling colleague Mustafizur Rahman will help them give a feedback on players, who turn rivals during the T20 World Cup starting October 17 in Oman and UAE.
Shakib will be playing for KKR while Mustafizur is part of Rajasthan Royals.
"I am hopeful that the IPL will help everyone," Shakib said. "We will be spending time in those conditions, play matches too. Mustafiz and I can share the experience with the rest of the team.
"We will understand the other players' mindset, what they are thinking about the World Cup, and then report it back to our players."
Acclimatising will not be a problem as the team will get enough time for that.
"Our team will be in Oman at least 15-16 days before the World Cup, which is enough time for acclimatising with conditions and wickets.
"I don't think pitches and conditions here will have any impact over there. We have built a winning mentality, which will help us be confident in the World Cup."
In their last three T20I series, Bangladesh defeated Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand while gaining invaluable experience of playing on surfaces similar to the kind they might get during the World Cup.
"I think we have a good chance in the World Cup. We had a good preparation. There is lots of criticism regarding wickets and low scores but at the same time, we have to understand that there is nothing that gives you more confidence than a win," Shakib said.
"A team carries a winning mentality after success and that gives you confidence to a different level. We want to go to the World Cup with this confidence," he added.
Shakib continued to criticise the pitches at the Shere Bangla National Stadium where Bangladesh won the last two T20I series against Australia and New Zealand.
"Those who played the last nine-ten matches, are all out of form. That's how the wicket was. Nobody did well. I hope the batters don't count this performance," he said.
"Careers will end if any batter plays 10-15 matches on these wickets. Let's not take this into account. Everyone will try hard to win games for the country."
Shakib said Bangladesh can go all the way in the tournament if things go in their favour.
"It is difficult to say how far we can go, but I feel we can go all the way at the World Cup," he said.
"We have to play match by match and if we can do well in the first round, we will carry that confidence and we can give our best in the main round."
