Won’t do a lot of experiments in Zimbabwe series: Shanto

Even though the T20I home series against Zimbabwe, starting tomorrow in Chattogram, is being considered as part of the preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup next month, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said that they would not be experimenting much during this five-match series.

"First of all, I would like to win this series. That is my first target as the captain," Shanto said at the pre-match press conference in Chattogram today. 

"And, obviously, it will be in our mind that this is a platform for our preparation [for the T20 World Cup]. However, that does not mean that while taking it as a platform for preparation, we will be taking this series lightly or will be doing a lot of experiments. 

"There won't be a need for experimentation as all 15 players of the squad are capable of defeating this Zimbabwe side. So, all we will be trying to do is figure out the areas we can improve and go to the World Cup with a good preparation," Shanto added. 

Zimbabwe lost against Namibia and Uganda in the African leg of the qualifiers and were unable to qualify for the T20 World Cup in the United States and the West Indies in June. 

However, playing a preparatory series against a side that failed to qualify for the tournament is not concerning to Shanto, who was of the opinion that there are no such concept of 'big team and small team in T20 cricket'. 

"There are no big teams or small teams in T20 cricket. As you said, Zimbabwe lost to Uganda [in the T20 World Cup qualifiers]. This Zimbabwe team, however, defeated Sri Lanka a few days back. So, there is not much of a difference if you think about it in that way," Shanto said.