Shakib eyes something special

Bangladesh T20 skipper Shakib Al Hasan exuded confidence as the ace all-rounder was in his usual elements in the pre-match press conference ahead of his side's ICC T20 World Cup tournament opener against the Netherlands at Hobart's Bellerive Oval stadium on Monday.

Bangladesh arrived in Australia on the back of a winless tri-nation series in New Zealand following a two-match bilateral series against hosts UAE. And although rain had hampered the Tigers' preparation in Australia -- as one of the two warm-up games, the second one against South Africa, got washed out -- the Bangladesh skipper reckons his side "had a very good preparation" and that "everyone is ready to go."

"The four matches we played in New Zealand will help us, especially in Hobart where the weather is similar to Christchurch. So everyone is excited for the match tomorrow," Shakib told reporters in the pre-match press conference today.   

Asked if Bangladesh are relieved to have the Netherlands as their first opponents, Shakib went on the front foot.

"Look, we have prepared for the five matches we have to play in the World Cup. The preparation will be the same irrespective of oppositions. It will be the same against the Netherlands, or South Africa, or India, or Pakistan, or Zimbabwe," said Shakib, while he also dismissed the notion that Bangladesh's initial fixtures – having the Netherlands, South Africa, Zimbabwe before India and Pakistan -- give the team an added confidence.

"We never thought like that. Every match is equally important to us. There are two points to grab. We look to win every game we go to play. There is no easy or weak team in this World Cup.

"In the qualifiers [for the Super 12], the teams that maybe you guys thought would win didn't win. Maybe that's the perception you are putting into us but we never prepared our team like that. We only prepared in the best way, focusing on ourselves, so that we can play to the best of our abilities," said Shakib.

However, the leading T20I all-rounder promised that his side will scale the heights in this World Cup which Bangladesh never could achieve in past events.

"This is such a format where we are not good at all but I believe we have the ability to do something special in this World Cup, what we did not do in the past," said Shakib.

Bangladesh are placed alongside India, Pakistan, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands in Group 2.