No pressure, but an inspiration - Shanto on Bangladesh's WTC chances

"For me, this isn't pressure, it is inspiring (to be in the top four)," Shanto said. "I find it inspiring that such scenarios are emerging in Test cricket. I wouldn't call it pressure, because ever since we began our preparations or started discussing this series, our focus has been on how we have played Test cricket over the last few series and indeed over the past few years.

"We don't want to do anything extra; we simply want to stick to our process. I'm not asking for any extraordinary effort from anyone. While this is certainly a very important series, our goal is just to follow our established process. The same one that has been yielding results for us."

Bangladesh begin this Test series after a disappointing tour of UAE, where they lost both matches in the ODI tri-series, and drew the one-off Test against Afghanistan. Shanto said the pace attack is beginning to understand their specific roles: Bangladesh had Ebadot Hossain and Hasan Mahmud for the Afghanistan Test, with Taskin Ahmed now returning after a break from the red-ball game.

"The positive thing about our pace attack is that they know their individual roles. They know who will play and when. They are very clear about who should feature under specific conditions.

"It's excellent that everyone in the squad remains prepared to play in any given match throughout a series. In terms of preparation, they are always in a very strong position. It's a great advantage that I can select any one of them for a match at any time."

Bangladesh's consistency remains an issue. They beat Pakistan 2-0 at home, followed by an embarrassing defeat in a one-off Test against Zimbabwe. They then beat Australia in Darwin, but lost the next game, followed by the draw against Afghanistan earlier this month.

"Naturally, winning the Darwin Test has boosted the players' confidence and belief. That's only to be expected. But even before that, the players already showed a strong desire to improve in this format. They genuinely want to play this format. That desire has only grown since the win. Furthermore, I have noticed a heightened level of anticipation among the players regarding when the next Test match will take place.

"It's also truly heartening to see how much people look forward to Test cricket. They watch it and talk about it. This serves as a great source of inspiration for us. As I mentioned earlier, if we can improve by another 20-30% from where we currently stand, it will elevate the position of our national team, and -- God willing -- we will achieve something even better."