‘Just another match’: Mahedi unfazed ahead of India clash

While Sheikh Mahedi Hasan was speaking to a small group of journalists, a ball came flying from the nets behind him. He had to halt mid-sentence at the shouts of "watch, watch!" --  a scene that repeated itself a couple of times as Bangladesh's batters unleashed big shots in training yesterday at the ICC Cricket Academy ground in Dubai.

"A ball might come, be careful," the off-spinner warned with a smile before calmly continuing. The same composure was reflected when talk turned to India, Bangladesh's opponents in tomorrow's Asia Cup Super Four clash.

Bangladesh began their Super Four campaign in style, beating Sri Lanka in their opening game, and will now look to carry that momentum into the contest against Suryakumar Yadav's India.

There was no formal press conference. At the request of the visiting Bangladeshi reporters, Mahedi stepped aside near the end of practice, just after being struck for a flurry of sixes from Saif Hassan and Parvez Hossain Emon during a bowling session. Later, after finishing his own batting drills and catching his breath, he stood before the cameras.

On paper, India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, look far ahead of the pack in this tournament. But Mahedi insisted Bangladesh are not treating the contest as anything extraordinary.

"Not after winning a match. From the start, we stay normal. The way we are, the way our body language is — we aren't overthinking. We're just going out there to play a cricket match. Whether the opponent is India or Australia, that's not our concern," he said.

Bangladesh's record against India tells a stark story: one win from 17 T20Is, and none in multinational tournaments. Yet Mahedi downplayed history, arguing that belief always depends on the situation at hand.

"It depends on the match situation. Everything comes down to the match situation," he said.

While hype inevitably builds around any India match -- particularly on social media -- Mahedi brushed aside the noise.

"We're not thinking about that. That's created by you (the media) or by the fans. We'll just play the way we've been playing every international match — normally," he added.