Bangladesh are prepared to begin their ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 campaign with a two-Test series against Sri Lanka on June 17 in Galle. Test skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto is determined to capitalise on the momentum gained in the previous cycle and achieve more consistent results, particularly at home.
The visit in Sri Lanka will mark the start of a new cycle for the team. The series opener at the Galle International Stadium will also be the final Test for Angelo Mathews, a Sri Lankan cricket legend. In the previous WTC cycle (2023-25), Bangladesh won four of the twelve Tests. Notably, three of those victories were earned outside of the country.
However, their problems at home drew substantial attention, with only one win in six Tests and five defeats lowering their overall ranking. Shanto addressed the media prior to the team’s departure, outlining the team’s plans for the forthcoming cycle and emphasising the importance of winning more at home.
“We need to win our home matches. In the previous round [WTC 2023-2025], we performed really poorly at home. If we had won more matches there, it would have counted towards our overall win total. So, we want to improve in that area. We have clear strategies for improvement. We’ll be more confident this year because we performed well away from home last year. “If we can continue to perform in away games, it will help us grow in this cycle,” Shanto stated at a press conference.
The goal is to win two or three more games than before. Najmul Hossain Shanto
The southpaw stated that the squad must win more matches than before and take tiny strides forward in order to succeed in the nine-team event.
“It’s a big dream, and thinking that far ahead is a little naive right now. It would be ideal if we could make incremental improvements. If you look back, we won one test before the final cycle. But in the previous round, we had won four. That is development. This time, the goal is to win two or three more matches than previously. If we can make these tiny moves, why not? Someday, Bangladesh will play in the final. However, it is critical that we achieve greater results than in the last cycle,” he continued.
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