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Bangladesh will be starting the new year with a vital World Test Championship (WTC) fixture against New Zealand. Test captain Mominul Haque stated that despite the team's underwhelming previous performances, he is optimistic about the future.

Mominul also said he is not moving into another year with a long-term plan. As of now, he wants to set small goals and stay more concerned about the upcoming series.

"For the time being, I am not thinking about my goal [as a Test captain and a player] in 2022. For now, I am thinking about this series, how we can do well in this series and win games. it is hard to set goals in this way. We will play in tough conditions. We want to set small goals, rather than thinking too far ahead,” said Mominul during a virtual conference on Friday.

Bangladesh played a total of seven Tests in 2021 and they were able to win only one of the games against Zimbabwe. The Tigers lost five and ended up drawing one Test, away to Sri Lanka.

"I am excited about starting well in the new year, rather than thinking about what happened in the past. Starting well gives more chance of doing well in subsequent challenges. I know we haven't done well in New Zealand, but it is best to be optimistic if we want to do well in the present,” he said.

Mominul mentioned that his ultimate goal will be to take Bangladesh to a decent state in the format.

"I will always think positively regardless of our situation. I want to take Bangladesh to a better position this year. We want to learn from the mistakes, and we are thinking about doing well."

Bangladesh lost all their 32 games in New Zealand. Despite such a poor record, Mominul hopes for a better result this time. He is banking on team effort since he believes that individual performance will not bring them success.

"We usually win when we play well as a team, regardless of where we are playing," Mominul said. "If we don't combine, I don't think we can get a good result. I think even if someone scores a hundred or a double-hundred, we need bowlers to take the 20 wickets. Everyone has to chip in, for us to do well," he added.