The captain of the ODI team of Bangladesh spoke to the press ahead of the team’s final against Sri Lanka. The Tigers go into the final after being humiliated by Sri Lanka as the home side bundled out for only 82 runs. This will be the fourth time that the Tigers play a final at the Shere-Bangla stadium, with the previous three finals resulting in losses for the nation. 

And the captain didn't want to be reminded of it.

'I hadn't thought about it, you shouldn't have reminded me,' said Mash with a smile.

Speaking to the press, Mashrafe reiterated that they didn’t wish to lose like that and that it will be difficult to step on the pitch with that loss circling in their minds.

‘We didn’t want to lose like that. It is difficult to take on the field thinking about it [the loss]. [However], it is not as though we should think negatively after one loss or change our game plan altogether. We will try to play with the mindset we had in the first game.’

Opener Imrul Kayes has been called up in the squad for the final of the tri-nation, something that leaves Anamul Haque Bijoy’s place in jeopardy. However, Mashrafe claimed that Kayes’ place in the starting Xi isn’t guaranteed.

‘Imrul coming [to the squad] doesn’t mean that he will play. We haven’t discussed about it yet, but we are thinking about who could be the suitable partner for Tamim Iqbal in opening. [Anamul Haque] Bijoy played in the first four matches, but he is a little unhappy [due to his inconsistent form]. He wanted to contribute more.’

When asked whether the team struggles without the contributions of opener Tamim Iqbal and number 3 Shakib Al Hasan, the captain confessed that the team relies on them to give the starts.

‘It is true that losing Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal early creates pressure on us. Shakib is our best performer. He had been playing well at number 5 before, but now he is also doing fine at 3. Mushfiqur [Rahim] also played well [against Sri Lanka].

‘We have to ensure that we don’t make the same mistakes in the final. Mistakes are bound to happen, but we have to limit the number of it.

‘The start is always important, regardless of whether we bat or bowl. If we have a good start, then the pressure is relieved little-by-little.’

The captain’s continuous flirtations with injuries have forced him to play irregularly. However, he believes that he can play a bit of domestic cricket this time.

‘There is Dhaka [Premier] League this year, perhaps I can play the whole of it. At the end of the day, every player relies on himself with only one thought: how to prepare for international cricket. After so many years [in cricket], I know how to maintain myself. It is not that much of a difficult task.’

The final is the only game left in the tri-nation tournament and it is the country's fourth final at the Shere-Bangla International stadium. Bangladesh lost their previous three finals and Mashrafe has admitted that he is “anxious” about the final, before revealing that pressure is a good thing as it allows players to be more focused.

‘I am very anxious to win the final, that’s the truth. But thinking too much about it creates pressure. Even if we won yesterday, we would have still felt pressure before the final.

‘The way we lost [against Sri Lanka] wasn’t pleasing at all. There will be pressure before a final, but I think that it is a good thing because everyone will be alert on the field. Everyone wants to stay relaxed, but sometimes it hinders the performance.'

Mashrafe then praised the Sri Lanka team after comparing them with Zimbabwe.

‘The Sri Lankan team is more professional than the Zimbabwe team and have a better history too. However, our loss against them [Sri Lanka] wasn’t acceptable. Sri Lanka have some players that have played in the World Cup final [of 2011] and one can expect them to turn the game on its head—something that even some of our senior players can't do.

‘We played according to the home advantage in the first three games, so I hope that we can do the same in the final.’

When asked about the team combination for the final, Mashrafe said: ‘Shakib is there in the spin department. There is also Nasir [Hossain] as a spinner-come-batsman. However, I can’t say for sure who will be added.

‘We don’t have the desire to make a lot of changes because of one loss. We won’t be playing an extra batsman instead of four pacers. We might replace a pacer with another pacer [but not a batsman].’

Speaking of the conditions to play in, Mashrafe enthused that it is ‘not entirely tough to play in these conditions.’ He also added that ‘it’s time we dropped such excuses’ because ‘playing in international cricket will always require us to play back-to-back most of the time.’

The captain then stressed the importance of remaining positive ahead of the final.

‘I don’t think there is any reason to be afraid because if we got all out for 70, 80 or 90 runs every day, then people would question our abilities. We can’t be under the fear of getting all out for under 150 just because we got all out for 80 (82 actually) yesterday.