Tri-series will help us become a world-class team : Ashraful

Dhaka, Jun 7 (UNI) A day ahead of the crucial tie against Pakistan, Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful said the tri-series is an opportunity for his side to take another step towards becoming a world-class squad.

''We have put the past performances behind us. We are now fully focused towards performing well first in the tri-series and then take the success to the Asia cup in Pakistan,'' Ashraful said in a press conference here today.

''We have the best of 14 players available in Bangladesh. Our confidence levels are high since we are playing at home and hopefully we will beat Pakistan before taking India in our second match,'' he added.

Skipper rued the team's unpredictable form and said the only way to become more consistent was to develop a quality bench strength.

''On a given day we can beat any team. We are improving and have a strong bench strength with youngsters raring to get the national call. We need more time to rise higher on rankings.

Every one is learning at the moment,'' he said.

''We do have our targets for the tri-series and the Asia Cup but I am not willing to reveal them now. Our focus is presently on the tri-series,'' he added.

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