Bangladesh batsman Zakir Hasan sways back to play a ramp shot to a bouncer during net practice at the BCB Academy Ground in Mirpur yesterday. The under-19s will expect a lot of chin music from West Indies' pacers when the ICC Under-19 World Cup semifinal gets underway here today. PHOTO: FIROZ AHMED

The venue of the home of cricket in Mirpur is nothing new. Neither are the West Indies an unknown opponent. The statistics also speak in Bangladesh's favour, but as the junior Tigers are going to play their first semifinal of the the ICC Under-19 World Cup today at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, everybody was relishing the biggest challenge ahead for Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Co.

When you hear the words from Bangladesh Under-19 captain Miraz, you will barely find any signs of pressure on the baby-faced all-rounder.

A bad day is an ever-present threat in cricket, but the way Miraz defused all talks regarding pressure while speaking at the pre-match press conference yesterday, there was hardly any doubt that he has got the ability to bear the pressure on his young shoulders.

His smile was infectious, he displayed his wit when said that "my family doesn't understand the game and they only count the runs and wickets", and overall he exuded confidence whenever a question about any challenge was raised.

While everybody was anticipating a barrage of pace from the West Indies, Miraz simply dismissed it by saying that his team would rather face pace bowling than slow bowling, so he was relishing a better performance from his top-order batsmen.

With his fiery pace, Alzarri Joseph has already become the man to watch in the tournament and many believe that, alongside Chemar Holder, he may trouble Bangladesh. However, Miraz shared a different opinion.

"I believe that we enjoy pace bowling rather than slow bowling. We face pacers with a lot of confidence because there is less chance of mistiming shots.

"We have played in South Africa and West Indies. So far in this tournament we had little opportunity to face pacers in our four matches. Our openers struggled in the previous matches but I believe they will bounce back  tomorrow," said Miraz.

When asked about excitement, pressure and happiness, Miraz said: "When we enter the middle, we hardly think about family, fans or anything. We don't think about the outside world; rather our focus centres only on how we can face the ball, how we can bowl well."

"There's no way you can be excited in cricket; you have to follow your processes," he added.

Miraz said that Bangladesh's batting and spin bowling were their strengths and most importantly they had the confidence and ability to come back from any match situation.

Coach Mizanur Rahman had the same sentiment and added: "The boys are in good rhythm. We are just waiting for tomorrow's game. We are taking it like any other match, not a semifinal. We are only thinking about putting our plan into action."

Many consider India as the toughest test for the home side, but Miraz and his coach Mizanur know very well that they will only face that challenge if they overcome today's hurdle.

That is why they both said that they focus match-by-match and maintain their processes.