I believe India are favourites - Mashrafe Mortaza

Mashrafe is back to lead the one day team

Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza has urged his teammates to not put pressure on themselves by focussing on the Champions Trophy qualification. Bangladesh needs to win two matches out of their next six (3 against India and 3 against South Africa) in order to stay ahead of the West Indies for the final spot of the 8-team tournament in 2017.

"It is quite natural to think about this type of equation," Mashrafe said. "But at some point this can become cause for extra pressure. We don't want the cricketers to think about it. We should take it match by match, which is more important for us.

"We are improving so we must handle this sort of pressure. It is going to be bigger in the future. We are hoping to see Bangladesh cricket take the next step which will be a lifetime achievement for us. But it is important to control such emotions. We faced similar pressure at the World Cup where even those who believed in us could only hope that we would reach the second round. So just like we did it there, we will take it match by match."

Mashrafe wants his players to forget the quarter-final loss to India in the recently concluded World Cup. "I don't think anyone will think about what happened in a match three-four months ago. People will remember such things but as cricketers we shouldn't be thinking about such things. It is hard to control people's emotions but I would request them to keep cricket in its place."

"I believe India are favourites but when we get on the field we don't think who is favourite or who is not. After the 2007 World Cup, we started to believe that we can beat any team. We never lost our mental strength despite losing matches. Of course if we are playing against a higher-ranked team they will be the favourites but we don't think that we can't beat them.”

He also spoke about Rubel’s extravagant celebration after dismissing Kohli in that quarter-final at Melbourne. "If his madness is helpful, then I don't mind it. I obviously wouldn't want any personal attacks. But I don't see anything between Rubel and Kohli. I think we create such problems by asking these questions. It is better to avoid such questions. We shake hands at the end of the match. Rubel and Virat don't have a problem."

"Bangladesh is one of the teams doing well in ODIs right now apart from Australia, England, India and New Zealand. I have told the boys to look at the statistics that we are not far behind any of these teams. Everyone believes in themselves. We have to show it in the field, but this is no pressure," Mashrafe said.