Bangladesh’s next assignment—a T20I series against Afghanistan in India, will start from 3^rd June before the third and final match on June 7. The Afghan team has a number of world-class T20 bowlers who regularly feature in some of the best T20 leagues across the globe.

 Bangladesh batsmen have been preparing to face the likes of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The batters are practicing by batting against Jubair Hossain regularly in the nets.

When asked if the recent practice-sessions have helped, Mushfiqur Rahim said, “Yes, of course. It helps a lot. Not only this series, if you have noticed, we actually try to find someone similar or nearly similar to the opponent’s most prominent bowler whom we would be facing. That helps us get used to playing against that kind of bowling. And (Jubair Hossain) Likhon is bowling better than before and we have been playing him for the last three-four days. He and Rashid Khan have a similarity between them and that is, both use a lot of power while bowling.

“These practices will definitely help. Executing (the things we’ve been practicing) in the match is a different thing. And many of us have played against Rashid in the BPL. Especially, Tamim (Iqbal) and Imrul (Kayes) played in Comilla (alongside Rashid) and we’ve talked to them. We’ve tried to gather as much information as possible.

“All in all, it's a T-20-format format, no matter whoever the bowler is, we’ll have to keep scoring. I think we have enough quality batsmen. (They are) capable of coping with such bowlers. Hopefully, there will be a great series.”

The current set of senior players in the Bangladesh National team has been serving the nation for more than a decade now. The right-handed batsman was also asked about the future of the team if there are enough players who can replace the likes of Mushfiq himself alongside Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al  Hasan, and Mahmudullah Riyad.

“Yes, definitely. Every time I think that I won’t be (in the team) in the next series. That’s how I feel. I think there are enough talented and mature players, especially in the HP who be joining the A team soon. I think the local players, who are playing in the domestics, are doing well.

“Yes, it’s taking a lot of time (for them to grow). There was a time when we used to play (domestic) cricket for 4-5 months, but now it’s being played for 11 months in a year. It’s very challenging to maintain one’s performance graph for that long. If they hope to practice these things (being consistent), I hope they will do fine. It's the seniors’ responsibility (to help them improve),” said Mushfiq.