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Bangladesh National Cricket Team is in contention to qualify for the final of the ongoing World Test Championship cycle. While for the first two spots of the competition, teams like South Africa, Australia, and India have been maintaining a strong position in cricket fans' discussions, Bangladesh, not a top-seeded cricket team, is surprisingly in the race to the WTC 2025-27 Final.
Ahead of the two-match Test series against West Indies at home, Najmul Hossain Shanto's side is in fourth place in the points table. They will able to strengthen their position, if they could defeat West Indies in both of the matches.
Bangladesh is set to take on West Indies in a Test series
On the eve of the first Test match, which will be at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium from October 28, Test skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said that they are motivated for the brief Test series.
Talking to the reporters, the Bangladesh skipper mentioned that they are thinking match by match. Instead of taking their thoughts too far, the team and the players like to work on the upcoming game only.
"I am only thinking about this Test match and not even the second match of the two-match series. As a team, we are always thinking about how we are going to play this match or this series," Najmul Hossain Shanto told reporters ahead of the opening Test on Tuesday.
It is inspiring: Najmul Hossain Shanto on the position in the WTC points table
Being in the contention for a spot in the Test Championship final can bring a lot of pressure for the team. Najmul claimed that they are not experiencing pressure, but the fact that the Bangladesh cricket team has an outside chance to qualify for the final is inspiring the entire team.
"For me, this isn't pressure; it is inspiring (to be in the top four), and I find it inspiring that such scenarios are emerging in Test cricket. I wouldn't call it pressure, because ever since we began our preparations or started discussing this series, our focus has been on how we have played Test cricket over the last few series and indeed over the past few years," said Najmul Hossain Shanto.
Defeating Australia in Darwin was a turning point
Najmul Hossain Shanto revealed that the win against Australia in Australia has boosted their confidence. They got a massive 9-wicket victory against Australia in the 1st Test at Marrara Stadium in Darwin in mid of August this year. As the captain mentioned, since the Darwin Test match win, the players are eager to play more matches in the Whites than before.
"Naturally, winning the Darwin Test has boosted the players' confidence and belief. That's only to be expected. But even before that, the players already showed a strong desire to improve in this format."
"They genuinely want to play this format. That desire has only grown since the win. Furthermore, I have noticed a heightened level of anticipation among the players regarding when the next Test match will take place,” he said.
