'Now I can enjoy my batting fully' - Bashar

Habibul Bashar is looking at the tour of Sri Lanka as an opportunity to bat himself back into form, especially since he doesn't have the additional pressure of captaincy resting on his shoulders. Bangladesh play a full series against Sri Lanka, but Bashar's focus was on the three Tests.

Speaking to The Daily Star ahead of Bangladesh's departure to Colombo, Bashar, 34, said he was keen on reminding the selectors of his worth. "After playing for a long time in the national team, there is hardly anything to prove as a player. But it's altogether a different tour for me as this time I am not the captain of the team rather my main focus is to return among the runs to keep my place as a performer in the team.

"I am not concerned about my career and right at the moment my main objective is to score runs as much as I can. The one-day series is not in my mind because I am only focusing on the Test series. I know how difficult the condition is but I am very confident."

After Bashar renounced the one-day captaincy last month, many expected him to quit the short format of the game altogether. But Bashar, despite an average of just 21.68 from 111 matches and the heavy criticism against him, felt that the extremely young Bangladeshi team still needed his experience.

Speaking on his relatively low-profile image as captain, Bashar said: "Maybe I was not always the centre of attraction but I was always in the there, somewhere. The fact is that my batting was a bit hampered by the captaincy role. But now I can enjoy my batting fully."

Bashar said the last tour to Sri Lanka in 2005, where Bangladesh were swept in both the Tests and ODIs, was the worst of in his career as captain but he believes that this team is more confident. "I must say that the boys are now more confident. It is not easy to perform well in Sri Lanka where even the big teams, except world champions Australia, struggle. Our last tour was a disaster but I don't think it would be same this time."