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Aminul Islam, the Bangladesh captain, believes a cricketing legend could help inspire one of the surprise results of the World Cup.

Among the rank outsiders for the tournament, Bangladesh begin their Group B campaign against New Zealand at Chelmsford today with confidence high.

However, the foundations for their hopes lie with Gordon Greenidge, a former West Indian master batsman and the coach of Bangladesh for the last 2.5 years.

Islam believes Greenidge, a former Hampshire captain, has taken Bangladesh to another level since his arrival and given them a platform on which to build in his country's first World Cup.

After wins against Essex and Middlesex in the warm-up matches, Islam admitted: ``The team's in good shape and we are looking forward to playing New Zealand. A lot of our confidence is down to Gordon. He has been an inspiration to the team. He is a great motivator.

``He was a great cricketer and with that comes tremendous experience. He has taught us a lot and we have learnt a lot.''