Mahedi looking to give his best in T20 World Cup

Bangladesh all-rounder Mahedi Hasan spoke about the challenges of bowling in the Powerplay in T20s and said that he wants to improve his performances in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup.

"I don't want to perform like I usually do. In the World Cup, I want to perform better," the off-spin bowling all-rounder said in a video posted by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on social media on Monday.

Mahedi, who usually bowls in the Powerplay overs in the shortest international format of cricket, said that it's really difficult to contain runs in that phase of the game – a challenge he is likely to face if he breaks into the Tigers' playing XI in the T20 World Cup.

"It's really challenging in the Powerplays, especially in T20s. This is a game of runs. (The challenge will be) conceding as few runs as possible while bowling, which will be really difficult," he said.

The 29-year-old Mahedi also revealed that ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was his idol growing up but he gravitated towards the finishing abilities of Mahmudullah Riyad later on, both of whom are part of Bangladesh's World Cup squad alongside him.

"When I was a kid and first started understanding cricket, I loved watching Shakib bhai play. When I started preparing myself to bat at No.7 or 8, I started liking Riyad bhai's batting as a finisher. You can say that Shakib bhai is my idol but I also like Riyad bhai's batting in that situation," he concluded.