DHAKA, March 9, 2026 (BSS) - Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons has insisted 
that his side is determined to play their best cricket against Pakistan in 
the upcoming three-match ODI series, with their primary focus on improving 
their position in the rankings.

Every ODI series Bangladesh plays ahead of the 2027 World Cup will be crucial 
for securing direct qualification for the tournament. However, speaking to 
the media at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Monday, Simmons 
said that moving up in the rankings is their bigger priority.

"It is about making sure that we step up in the table and not just the fact 
that we want to be an automatic qualifier at eight or above. The fact is that 
we want to move up the table," he said.

"If we get to seven or six by the time we qualify for the World Cup, that's 
fine. But we just want to move up the table, and that means playing better 
cricket against all opponents."

Bangladesh's status as an ODI powerhouse has declined in recent times due to 
inconsistent performances in the format over the last three years.

However, Simmons remains hopeful that the team can get back on track after 
their victory against the West Indies in their last ODI assignment in October 
last year.

"We finished well against West Indies, and we don't want to go backwards from 
there. The wickets look a lot better than they were for that series," Simmons 
pointed out.

He also highlighted two areas where the team needs improvement.
"So the main thing is to look for progress, to move to the next step, which 
is to bat the way we batted in that last game," he said.

"But we also need to fix a few areas because I still think we can improve in 
the middle overs, especially since we've not been very good there. Our 
bowling also needs improvement as we have to take more wickets in the middle 
overs. Those are the two areas that we're going to focus on a lot."

Simmons added that the pitch conditions appear better this time, which is 
encouraging for the team.

"The wickets look better now. I watched the last part of the BPL, even the 
game played two days ago, and it still looks a lot better now. That's what we 
want as cricketers - to play on good wickets so that we can test our skills."

Simmons also said that Bangladesh have moved on from the disappointment of 
not playing in the T20 World Cup and are now fully focused on the Pakistan 
series.

"I think we're getting past that (T20 World Cup). I think the BCL helped, and 
with that little tournament we started to get back into the frame of playing 
50-over cricket and thinking about these three matches against Pakistan. So I 
think we're getting there," he concluded.