Confidence levels high for Champions Trophy - Bangladesh team preview

Bangladesh have been the perennial underdogs in International cricket, but somehow seem to always compete hard at the upper echelons of the sport. The team have been on a patchy record of late. In their recent tour of the West Indies, they drew the Test series 1-1, then were whitewashed in the three ODI contests, but came back to win the T20I series 3-0.

However, despite this recent volatile form, Nazmul Hossain Shanto will be leading the side with proven pedigree in the ICC Champions Trophy with a run to the semi-finals in the previous edition, in 2017.

This run included a memorable five-wicket victory over New Zealand as they made their way to the semi-finals of the tournament with centuries from Shakib Al-Hasan and Mahmudullah in Cardiff successfully chasing down a target of 266.

Nazmul's campaign will be assisted by senior players like Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim and the Bangladesh skipper is confident his team can perform well.

"We are going to the Champions Trophy to become champions," Shanto boldly claimed.

"All eight teams deserve to be champions in this tournament. They are all quality teams. I believe our team has the ability. No one will feel extra pressure."

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