For Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, the lack of runs at the venue meant that both Bangladesh and South Africa have equal chances, going into the game on Monday.

Bangladesh managed to reignite their confidence after winning their opening T20 World Cup fixture against Sri Lanka in New York on Saturday. Having come under immense scrutiny in their build-up to the major event, Najmul Hossain Shanto’s side seemed to have turned a corner and now eye a place into the Super 8s of the tournament following the thrilling win against the Lankans. With an encounter against South Africa up next, The Daily Star’s podcast Pitch Perfect brings you a discussion about Bangladesh’s chances to go through to the next stage.

Quite a few aspects like planning, execution, and process – things that Bangladesh players resort to while stating their expectations ahead of a game -- came through in their thrilling two-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas yesterday. 

Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain ended with 3-22 and Taskin Ahmed (2-25) chipped in with a pair of wickets as Sri Lanka were restricted to 124-9 and then Towhid Hridoy smashed four sixes in his 40 from 20 balls as Bangladesh reached the target with an over to spare.

The Tigers eager to prove their critics wrong.

Even though the left-hander is the designated anchor in the Bangladesh top-order, his career strike rate of 109.64 is not up to par in T20Is.

“We are not thinking about what has happened before. We know how capable we are, we have to be brave and execute our plans.”

Having only seen the facility through photos and various time lapses in the build-up, Najmul Hossain Shanto was floored seeing the stadium in person.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said the mix of youth and experience was important to the team and, in particular, he hoped Mahmudullah Riyad and Shakib Al Hasan’s experience would guide them during the difficult stages of the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto urged fans and senior players of the team support them during their tough times in the T20 World Cup.

The South Asian nation is one of nine countries to have played all T20 World Cups since the tournament began in 2007 but is alone in never having made it to the knockout stage.

Najmul Hossain Shanto, the current Bangladesh captain in all three formats, is feeling that pressure right now. His struggles with the bat in T20Is are as clear as daylight. In his last 10 outings in the format, Shanto has scored just 189 runs at a strike rate of a little over 102.

When your opponents rest key performers from the series in a dead rubber game, how fruitful are even positive results you get from the game? That is exactly what Bangladesh were left with after winning the third and final T20I against USA on Saturday.

Najmul Hossain Shanto, the Bangladesh captain was pleased with the way his team had responded to the two losses in the week.

Journos who cover Bangladesh men’s cricket team matches have a pretty good idea as to what the Tigers may say following any particular game.

Decision to exclude Tanzid Tamim also lacked logic of the convincing kind.

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto had blamed the wickets back home during the Zimbabwe series for their disastrous five-wicket loss in the first of the three T20Is against USA on Tuesday. BCB director and chairman of BCB’s HP unit Naimur Rahman Durjoy however rejected the idea that wickets were to blame.

“We didn't bat well. We started well in the beginning but in the middle we lost couple of wickets, so I think if we can score more 20 runs then it would be a decent total,” Shanto said in post-match presentations.

“In T20 Cricket, yes, batting order will be changing. That's just normal cricket," said the Bangladesh head coach.

Bangladesh cricket team left for the USA in the early hours of Thursday for the T20 World Cup, which begins in USA and the West Indies on June 2.