Bangladesh stands an outside chance of finishing in the top two of the World Test Championship standings, but Test skipper Najmul Hossain isn't thinking too far ahead.

Currently fourth on the table, Bangladesh prepare to take on West Indies in a two-Test series, part of the WTC, at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium from October 28.

“I am only thinking about this Test match and not even the second match of the two-match series. As a team we are always thinking about how we are going to play this match or this series,” Najmul told reporters ahead of the opening Test on Tuesday.

“As a team we are always thinking about small targets and that is what we did during the last couple of years. So I'm not thinking too far ahead and that helps our team to do well in the field,” he said.

Najmul added that the prospect of staying in contention for the final is a source of inspiration for them rather than pressure and urged his team mates to follow the process that has given them dividends in the longer format so far.

“For me, this isn't pressure, it is inspiring (to be in the top four) and I find it inspiring that such scenarios are emerging in Test cricket. I wouldn't call it pressure, because ever since we began our preparations or started discussing this series, our focus has been on how we have played Test cricket over the last few series and indeed over the past few years,” said Najmul.

“We don't want to do anything extra; we simply want to stick to our process. I'm not asking for any extraordinary effort from anyone. While this is certainly a very important series, our goal is just to follow our established process. The same one that has been yielding results for us,” he said.

Bangladesh's historic win in Darwin against Australia in August has only added to expectations from the side. Najmul feels even before that win, he had seen a "strong desire" within the team to improve in the format.

“Naturally, winning the Darwin Test has boosted the players' confidence and belief. That's only to be expected. But even before that, the players already showed a strong desire to improve in this format. They genuinely want to play this format. That desire has only grown since the win. Furthermore, I have noticed a heightened level of anticipation among the players regarding when the next Test match will take place,” he said.

“It's also truly heartening to see how much people look forward to Test cricket. They watch it and talk about it. This serves as a great source of inspiration for us. As I mentioned earlier, if we can improve by another 20-30% from where we currently stand, it will elevate the position of our national team, and, God willing, we will achieve something even better,” he said.

Mushfiqur hit on hand during practice

Mushfiqur Rahim suffered a blow to his hand during practice on the eve of the first Test at the BCB Academy premises on Tuesday.

Mushfiqur was seen receiving ice treatment on his hand after leaving the nets. The extent of the injury was not known immediately, raising quite a few eyebrows.

Bangladesh already have concerns over the availability of Litton Kumar Das.

Litton, the wicketkeeper-batter, has been recovering from a right hip-joint injury that he sustained during his century in Bangladesh’s second innings of the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi earlier this month.

Najmul, however, remained confident about Mushfiqur's availability.

“He (Mushfiqur) is fine so far. I have not heard anything like he won’t be able to play. We have to wait and see what happens afterward and whether the pain increases at night or not,” the Bangladesh captain said.

“He (Litton) is doing well so far. He worked on his fitness this morning as well. But we have not received the exact report from the physio and trainer yet. InshaAllah, we are hopeful of a positive outcome. If everything is fine, he will play. But I still have not received the report, so I cannot say anything with 100 per cent certainty,” he added.

Meanwhile, Najmul doesn't feel that the sudden axing of batting coach Mohammad Ashraful from the national team will have a huge impact. BCB recently axed Ashraful and replaced him with High Performance Unit head coach Mohammad Salahuddin on an interim basis for the home series against Windies.

“The person who has come in as batting coach was in the dressing room not long ago. We have worked with him a lot in the past, so I don't think there will be any issue adjusting to him. Salahuddin sir is doing a good job, as he has done in the past,” he concluded.