We considered the team's consistent performances: Nannu
This same group of T20I players toured Zimbabwe, won series against Australia at home last month.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the 15-man squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup today. All the 15 players included in the squad and the two reserved players are currently part of the ongoing New Zealand series. This same group of T20I players toured Zimbabwe, won series against Australia at home last month.
It is clear that the team management wanted to name a consistent squad for the T20 World Cup that has played together for the past few months and Chief Selector Najmul Abedin Nannu echoed the same during the press conference as well.
Nannu said that they stuck with the combination from the last three series to maintain the confidence Bangladesh had gathered from winning.
"We considered the team's consistent performance," Nannu said.
"Everyone is within a system, training under the team management. We are seeing the players in training, and we are confident that our specialist coaches will prepare them accordingly. I am confident they are prepared to play, and we expect pretty much the same performance."
"We had to follow a plan in home conditions, but we will have a different mentality when we go abroad," he added.
Bangladesh have won their last three T20I series against Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand respectively. Even though the pitch was at the centre of discussion despite two historic series wins against Australia and New Zealand within a month, Nannu believes these wins will boost the team's morale.
"Winning is very important, regardless of the format. It gives you confidence, whereas losing takes away the morale. Winning confidence is usually very useful going into a big tournament," Nannu explained.
Bangladesh will have to play in the first round to get tickets of the main round and will begin their campaign on the opening day of the tournament in Oman. Oman will be a different place for the Tigers as they've never played there before, thinks Nannu.
"Our World Cup performance begins in Oman, where we have never played cricket. We have to formulate a plan only when we arrive in Oman. I am confident that our experienced players can acclimatize very quickly."
Bangladesh squad will leave for Oman on October 4. They will have a camp there before travelling to UAE for two official practice matches.
Bangladesh, placed in Group B of Round 1 stage, will take on Scotland in the evening match on the opening day. They will face hosts Oman and Papua New Guinea on October 19 and 21 respectively. All three games will be played in Muscat.
Bangladesh's WC squad:
Mahmudullah Riyad (captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Kumar Das, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Naim Sheikh, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shamim Hossain Patwary, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shoriful Islam, Sheikh Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed.
Standby: Rubel Hossain, Aminul Islam Biplob