Diary
We arrived in SA with lots of confidence
By Mohammad Ashraful
Nov 4, 2008, 19:30

We’re now in South Africa and preparing for a tough tour, but we've arrived with lots of confidence after some pretty good individual performances against New Zealand.

In bowling and fielding we did well in Australia also. The weather here is pretty similar to what we have back home so we're feeling very comfortable. Obviously the wickets are different here but they are good for batting. If you get set then runs will come and there is value for the shots.

The Twenty20 match is first up at Johannesburg and in a Twenty20 game everything happens fast and any team can win. South Africa are a formidable opponent and are number two in the world but in this shortened match I don’t believe you can have an outright favourite.
 
We are focusing on the ODI and Test series but Wednesday's game gives us an opportunity to start on a high and we want to do well.

We have lost a few players recently (to the ICL) but all of us are more or less cricketers of similar standards and we don't have any superstars. Therefore, we are not really missing anybody.

On the other hand the new guys who have come in are extremely talented and have performed at academy, first class and A team levels and I'm very excited for them. I'm sure they'll prove their worth.