Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto doesn’t want his team to rest on the laurels of their series victory over Pakistan but focus on the process and adaptability required to beat a quality side like India in the opening Test beginning here on Thursday.

The visitors are on a high coming off a resounding 2-0 away series win against Pakistan, a first in the country’s 24-year Test history.

“I think we played very good cricket against Pakistan, which gives us a lot of confidence. But that’s past,” Shanto said on Wednesday.

“We are here to play a new series, and the dressing room believes we can play very good cricket. We are not thinking about the outcome, but just trying to follow our game plan,” the 26-year-old, who has 29 Tests under his belt, said.

The skipper feels the conditions will hardly make a difference when they face a side like India. “India are a quality side. We know they have all the bases covered. But, we are not thinking about the conditions and the opponents. We are just focusing on ourselves.”

Over the last couple of days, there has been a hint of red soil on the Cheapuk pitches, allowing decent bounce. However, given India’s dominance with spin, Shanto countered that his side, too, has a decent spin and pace attack to counter the hosts.

“I think we have an experienced spin attack. In the last couple of years, we have had good pacers as well. I know they are not that experienced, but they are capable.”

Talking about the pitch, Shanto said: “It will be a good wicket, though I don’t want to talk too much about it. We’ll try to adapt to the wicket as early as we can.”

In white-ball cricket mostly, and also in one of the Tests in their last meeting with India in December 2022 in Mirpur, Bangladesh have put themselves in winning positions only to fail in closing out the games.

“In the last 10-15 years, most of the players have gained experience. The players aren’t getting too emotional lately. In the last couple of years, I felt we have been better at controlling our emotions. We are just trying to give our 100 per cent in every single game. That’s why it looks calm and follows every single plan.”

One of their players to watch out for would be pacer Nahid Rana, who surprised Pakistan in the second Test with his extra pace, but Shanto is choosing not to focus on “any particular individual player”.

Written with PTI inputs