Zakir Hasan shared his thoughts on the team's goals

After a long eight months, Bangladesh is set to return to ODI cricket, facing Afghanistan in Sharjah. The remaining members of the Bangladesh team left the country yesterday to join the squad for the ODI series. Zakir Hasan shared his thoughts on the team's goals, expressing that he doesn't want to dwell on past failures in the top order. He also praised Afghanistan's bowling lineup but remained hopeful for a good performance, especially given that the venue is Sharjah.

While Afghanistan is the host for the three-match ODI series, the games will be held at the neutral venue of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Looking ahead to the series, opener Zakir Hasan commented, "It’s definitely going to be challenging, but I think it’ll be a great series. As far as I know, Sharjah’s pitch is usually very good, so I hope we have a good series."

Bangladesh faced the embarrassment of back-to-back whitewashes in the last two series due to poor performances from the top order. Although this time it's a different format, concerns still revolve around the top order. Acknowledging past mistakes, Zakir said, "It’s true that we haven’t been able to provide a good start. In some recent Test matches, we, the openers, couldn’t perform well, and it cost us."

However, Zakir was determined to leave past mistakes behind and look forward. He remarked, "We can’t dwell on the past. With series coming in quick succession, we’re all focused on identifying the mistakes from the previous series and learning from them. We aim to build strong partnerships in the opening and top order to make things easier for the middle order."

Zakir also praised Afghanistan’s improved bowling attack, saying, "They have made a lot of progress in their bowling and are a strong opponent. But instead of worrying about their strengths, it’s better to focus on our own."

According to the schedule, the first ODI will be played on November 6. After a two-day break, the second ODI will take place on November 9, with the third and final match set for November 11.