Ireland drawing inspiration from Afghanistan's T20I win over Pakistan, says Malan

Ireland beat Bangladesh only once in five T20I encounters and that win came way back in 2009. But the visitors will be keen to give the hosts a hard time after the ODI series drubbing. Although they are missing a few frontline bowlers, T20 has been Ireland's best format recently and they will draw inspiration from their World Cup wins over England and the West Indies and most notably Afghanistan's recent T20I win over Pakistan.

Ireland coach Heinrich Malan said they showed in the T20 World Cup that they are capable of playing an exciting brand of cricket. 

"I think we've shown as well in the World Cup that we can play a brand that is exciting that people want to watch. And, you know, being tested in these conditions. It's a nice opportunity for some experience and some young players to figure some stuff out of how we want to play T20 cricket and see that consistently," he said in the pre-series press conference. 

"Look, you always want to win as many games as you get. And I think we've said that all along, you know, we, we understand that international cricket is about winning and losing, but, look for me, It's it will always want to try to win three nil. But it's not about, you know, beating Bangladesh three nil for us. It's about going out there and playing a certain brand playing a certain way. And hopefully if we do that over periods of time, then that result of three nil hopefully takes care of itself."

Malan pointed out that the shortness of the format makes it difficult to pick a winner beforehand and that makes it even more exciting. 

"Look, I guess you just have to go back a couple of days and see, you know, that Afghanistan beat Pakistan as well. You know, the shorter the format, the more every team is in the game, isn't it? I guess that's the exciting part about T20 cricket and, you know, we've shown over a period of time that we can play some good T20 cricket. So hopefully, we can adapt quickly to these conditions and, you know, I think the boys have now got a better understanding of what we could expect. And hopefully, we can go out there and put on a good show," he stated.