Kyle Coetzer excited by strength of Scotland squad ahead of T20 World Cup
Scotland start their campaign against Bangladesh in Muscat on Sunday.
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Your support makes all the difference.Kyle Coetzer believes Scotland possess the strongest squad that the country has ever assembled at a Twenty20 World Cup.
Scotland start their campaign against Bangladesh in Muscat on Sunday with Oman and Papua New Guinea completing the Group B line-up.
Holland, Ireland, Namibia and Sri Lanka make up Group A and the top two from each section will advance to the Super 12 stage.
Afghanistan, Australia, England, India New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies have automatically qualified for the Super 12 stage.
Scotland captain Coetzer said: “Your team evolves over the years, especially learning from your environment and the challenges we face going through qualifying tournaments.
“It really brings your group of players together.
“Trying to pick the squad was an absolute nightmare and I genuinely believe this is as strong and as powerful a squad as we’ve selected.
“We feel confident with what we have and believe we’re capable of putting in some strong performances.”
Bangladesh are the favourites to win Scotland’s section given their top-level international experience.
Coetzer said: “We’re diving into the tournament head first really and it’s a real challenge for us.
“But we have beaten them in the past in T20 cricket with a Richie Berrington hundred.
“We understand the dangers there in every game. We have to respect that, but at the same time not fear it.
“We know we have to play well to beat any side in this tournament.”
This is Scotland’s fourth appearance at a T20 World Cup and they have yet to progress past the first round.
Trying to pick the squad was an absolute nightmare and I genuinely believe this is as strong and as powerful a squad as we've selected.
But Scotland did register their first victory at the last edition of the tournament five years ago, beating Hong Kong in India.
“That win was a monkey off our back,” Coetzer said. “We’ve done that now and it’s time to move on and think about the next stage, to push as best we can for the Super 12s.
“We’ve missed opportunities at World Cups to win games of cricket when we probably could have got over the line.
“That’s something we seem to have banished in recent times. We believe we can win games and performing under pressure is a key area for us.”