Russell Domingo and Mahmudullah give us freedom to express ourselves, reveals Afif Hossain

Bangladesh cricket team is riding high on confidence after their historic win in the T20 series opener against India in Delhi. A win in the second T20I at Rajkot will help them seal the three-match series with an assailable lead. According to Bangladesh all-rounder Afif Hossain, Bangladesh are neither putting themselves under any extra pressure, nor being overly ambitious ahead of their next game against the subcontinent giants despite. 

The visitors are training hard in the heat at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, however, they'd be looking forward to taking one step at a time as they're aware that carrying the burden of expectations will only make their life difficult: "We are not thinking about winning or losing the series," Afif was quoted saying by Cricbuzz ahead of their game against India in Rajkot. "Now we are just focusing on our job and not worried about what happens next." He added that it is not up to him to decide if India is under pressure ahead of the second T20I but Bangladesh is confident after their victory.

Hossain believes the key to their success is that Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo and skipper Mahmudullah are giving the players the freedom to express themselves. "The environment is pretty good in the dressing room and our captain's message is to play the roles best suited to our abilities," Afif added. "He (Domingo) always tells us to play with an open mind and that's the reason why players are able to play so freely."

Bangladesh will be aware that they need to improve in certain departments for the next match, particularly their fielding. Domingo is known to be a hard taskmaster when it comes to developing a specific skill and has an able partner in former New Zealand cricketer Daniel Vettori, Bangladesh's spin-bowling coach, who was in charge of the fielding session.

Indian batsman challenged the Bangladesh fielders and took plenty of quick singles, beating them with sheer speed, and thereby reinforcing the need for an intensive fielding ground session. "We are aware that fielding is a very important part of the game and we need to take the chances that come our way," concluded Hossain, convinced that Bangladesh couldn't give the hosts any freebies.