Bangladesh batsman Shahriar Nafees speaks to DNA about the Oorld Cup 2011.

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You played in the 2007 World Cup in West Indies. How excited are you about your second World Cup, which is being co-hosted by Bangladesh for the first time?It is a great achievement. All the Bangladeshis are excited that we will be hosting a World Cup. I’m definitely excited and happy to represent my country in the mega event.

How do you rate your team’s chances?We want to repeat our 2007 performance. We won two games in the group league before qualifying for the Super Eights. Looking at the past series, we have done quite a good job. We did well against England, defeated Zimbabwe and thrashed New Zealand. I think if we play to our potential, we have a good chance of going ahead. However, we will take it one match at a time. Once we qualify for the quarterfinals — it’s knockout and anything can happen.

Bangladesh defeated India in the group stages in 2007. How confident is your team about facing India in the opener?India is a good team. They have some great players like Sachin, Sehwag, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Yusuf and young guns like Raina, Kohli and others. They are the No 1 Test team too. It is always challenging to lock horns with a team like India. We are looking forward to the contest. A win here would boost our morale. We respect India but we are confident to beat them.

What do you think of the composition of the side with an improved batting line-up, good spin attack led by Shakib-ul-Hasan?After the 2007 World Cup, Bangladesh team has improved a lot. Especially, our top order comprised of Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes and I. The spin attack is good and we have a decent pace attack. We don’t depend on a single person but work as a team.

How is your form with the bat going?I’ve returned to the side after a couple of years. I scored a half-century against the Kiwis and have been scoring pretty consistently in the domestic games. It is an important World Cup for me and I’m looking forward to it.

Has the team kept themselves a real target?Definitely! First we have to clear the league phase then there is quarterfinal, semis and final.