Ahead of the two-match T20I series against Afghanistan, Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad expressed his aim to play fearless cricket in the shorter format of the game.

Bangladesh previously played six matches against Afghanistan in this format and lost four of them. Afghan spinners played the main roles behind their success against Bangladesh in the T20s.

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“We’ll try to play T20 cricket with a positive attitude and mentality. The batters need to play fearlessly, and bowlers will also have to show some aggressive approach. Our only focus is to play well,” Mahmudullah told the media on Wednesday.

The Bangladesh captain also said that they are looking forward to having a good start that could guide them to the ultimate goal of winning the matches.

Munim Shahriar, the new batter in the set-up, could deliver the outstanding start with the hard-hitting ability that he displayed in the last season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), he said.

“Munim has a good chance to play tomorrow (Thursday). But I cannot confirm it now. We’ll plan on match-day morning about the batting order,” Mahmudullah said, mentioning that Mohammad Naim also has a good chance to start the innings despite his lean performance in the BPL.

Bangladesh is going to miss the service of Tamim Iqbal in this series. The left-handed batter has earlier sought a six-month break from the format. Mahmudullah said the team has all the respect for this ‘personal call’ of Tamim.

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“Tamim had a good time in BPL. He played well. He batted in an outstanding manner. It was his personal call (to stay away from international T20s for at least six months). We have to respect his call,” Mahmudullah added.

Prior to the T20 series, Bangladesh played a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan and won 2-0. Afghanistan won the last match after losing the first two matches in Chattogram.