'India coming full strength speaks volumes of our ability'

High on confidence after winning the first ODI of the three-match series, Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha today said that India coming with a full-strength squad speaks volumes about the host nation's rise in the cricketing world.
Bangladesh outplayed the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side by 79 runs to land an early punch and Hathurusingha feels the recent wins against Pakistan (3-0 series whitewash) and now India have certainly raised the confidence levels of the once minnows' of the game.
"The best example is that India sending their strongest team it speaks for itself where we are at this stage. How far we have come from that series to now. Its always good to guage your success on how your peers are looking at you. So I think it's a big gain for our boys, India coming with full strength," Hathurusingha said in a pre-match conference ahead of the second ODI here tomorrow.

"And of course we have come a long way and our team confidence is high. The way we are playing is a bit different," the former Sri Lankan all-rounder added.
Not willing to compare themselves with Sri Lanka, who shed their minnows tag after winning the 1996 World Cup, Hathurusingha feels Bangladesh have a bunch of world class players in their side.
"It's very hard to compare eras in the team because at that time the Sri Lanka team was a very experienced side before the World Cup in 1996. This is a young team. There is a long way to go for this Bangladesh team," he said.

"But one thing I can tell is that there are a number of world class players in this team. Five years time we can talk about their calibre as world class players," he added.

With debutant left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman (5-50) leading the bowling charge as India crashed to 228 all out in reply to Bangladesh's 307 in the first game, Hathurusingha feels that Thursday's performance justified the team's pace strength.
"It appears like that doesn't it? We always played to our strength. If we can exploit opposition weakness within our strength, that's ideal," Hathuru replied to a query on Bangladesh's pace battery being their strength.

"That's right yeah we were really happy that we have got young fast bowlers coming through. In the World Cup we actually played with three bowlers and we managed to keep them on the park. Lot of credit should go to the strength and conditioning coach, the fast bowling coach, and the physios to keep them on the park to develop these young fast bowlers through the academy system. I think we are on the right track," he added when asked to elaborate on the country's upcoming pace talent.