Mahmudullah Riyad, Asia Cup 2018
Image Courtesy: Getty

Experienced Bangladesh all-rounder, Mahmudullah said the team needs to adapt to the hot and humid conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which is the venue for the upcoming Asia Cup 2018, set to begin on 15th September.

However, Bangladesh had performed quite admirably in the last few Asia Cup tournaments. They have reached the final twice but have not managed to lift the title. The Bangla Tigers had reached UAE this week to prepare themselves and get used to the challenging conditions in the Middle East.

“At the moment, it is quite humid, but as professional players we have to adapt to [different] conditions and embrace the situation that comes our way, and we have to take it further on a positive note,” said Mahmudullah ahead of their rigorous fitness and training session at Dubai Sports City’s ICC Academy.

Mahmudullah, Bangladesh, Asia Cup 2018
Mahmudullah feels Bangladesh is gearing up for the hot and humid conditions in the UAE. (Image Courtesy: Getty Images)

Bangladesh is placed in Group B alongside Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. The team will take on the Islanders in the opening game of Asia Cup 2018.

Meanwhile, Mahmudullah said they would like to take inspiration from the fact they have put up some impressive performance against Sri Lanka in the recent times.

Mahmudullah feels Bangladesh can beat Sri Lanka in the tournament opener

“I think we have got some good past memories against Sri Lanka from a few months back,” said Mahmudullah. ”Sri Lanka is a very good team. They are playing very good cricket. We have to be at our best to beat them. We have been preparing quite well at home. So hopefully we can deliver.”

Meanwhile, the all-rounder said as a senior batsman he will look to take more and more responsibility and make vital contributions in Asia Cup 2018.

“It always feels good to contribute to the team, and if the team is winning, it feels even better. I will try to keep it simple and try and contribute as much as I can. To be honest, I think all the teams are playing very good cricket at the moment; every match is very important. We can’t afford to relax, and we need to take it game by game so that we can do well in the first stage.”

Bangladesh, Mahmudullah, Asia Cup 2018
Bangladesh will look to win their first Asia Cup title. (Image Courtesy: AFP)

Mahmudullah also feels the population of Bangladeshis in the UAE will give them extra motivation to perform well.

“Hopefully, we are going to get a really good crowd here because plenty of Bangladeshis live here, and we hope they will come out and support us, and we hope to deliver some good results for them,” said Mahmuduallah.

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A Cricket Expert who loves revolving his life around the game. An extremely passionate music lover who loves singing and listening to Arijit Singh songs.