Twenty20 squad looks settled - Pybus

Bangladesh coach Richard Pybus doesn't expect any major changes to the squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka next month. He was also pleased that some of the players had improved their Twenty20 skills after the tours to Zimbabwe and Europe over the last two months.

Barring three players who are participating in the ongoing Sri Lanka Premier League, the rest began training at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, though they were forced indoors due to the Dhaka rain. This camp will be the final preparation at home before the World Twenty20, as their next destination is Trinidad and Tobago, where they will play a four-nation Twenty20 tournament as part of the island's 50th independence day celebrations.

"It is important for us that we have a core group of people to work with, as the side is quite settled now and I don't see any major changes in the team when we go forward to Trinidad and the World Cup," Pybus said. "A lot of these players would transfer over to the one-day squad. I have been able to see the attitude and skills of the guys. Now I need to underline it with very specific formats with specific skill-sets.

"I think we have reasonably settled on that, though that doesn't mean we are where we need to be. We have certainly grown. After two months, I have understood what we need to do not just for the [Twenty20] World Cup but even after that. The World Cup is a benchmark which will let you know where you are."

During their tour of Europe, Bangladesh made a clean sweep of Ireland, but in the Netherlands, they were beaten by Scotland and the hosts, ending with four wins out of six.

"We didn't play the way we would have liked to in the three games in Holland. But it was important for us to get that experience and get to the ground after the high of winning the Ireland series and have our focus brought back to the fact that we are still a growing, emerging cricket nation," Pybus said.

Despite the results, Pybus was also happy with the players' accommodating outlook after encountering difficult weather and ordinary facilities.

"I am very happy with their attitude, especially in Ireland where it was not that easy for the touring side as there was rain and the wicket was damp," Pybus said. "There were limited tour facilities but the guys got into it, they did a lot of fielding work and conditioning.

"We even had to go to a school to train but the guys took it as an opportunity and that showed that they wanted to learn and get better. In Ireland and Holland you won't get all the facilities but there was no complaining, they just went about being busy. This was a really positive mindset and we will build a good team."

He also said that Shakib-Al-Hasan was "reasonably happy" with his recovery progress from a knee injury. "We are just going to build him up gradually before bringing him back to play cricket. I chatted with him in the morning and he was confident," Pybus said.