Nurul Hasan, Bangladesh's new T20I captain, declared on Sunday (July 24) that he would encourage his team to play "fearless cricket" in an effort to boost its underwhelming results in T20I and Tests.

In his first press conference as the captain in Dhaka, Hasan acknowledged that the team’s performance in T20Is and Tests needs more improvement than the one-dayers.

"We are lagging behind in Tests and T20s compared to one-day internationals. It is important for us we improve," he said.

He also endorsed playing a fearless brand of cricket arguing that the fear of failure can affect the team’s performance negatively.

"For me fearless cricket is important. We will see if we can do this," he stated.

"If we remain fearless, chances for things turning positive will be high. When you have fear of failure it will affect you negatively." he added.

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Bangladesh have rested their regular captain Mahmudullah Riyad, who according to the reports, is likely to retire.

While superstar all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan took a leave of absence and batter Tamim Iqbal declared his retirement from T20Is this week, veteran player Mushfiqur Rahim has also been rested for the Zimbabwe series.

Starting on July 30, Bangladesh will face Zimbabwe in three T20Is at the Harare Sports Club field. The T20I series will be followed by three ODIs.

In addition, they will compete in a tri-nation competition alongside Pakistan in New Zealand in October before the T20 World Cup in Australia. 

(Agence France-Presse Inputs)