Preston Mommsen says Scotland confident of T20 progress

Scotland captain Preston Mommsen believes his team are ready to grasp the life-changing opportunities at stake at the World Twenty20.

The Saltires were in confident mood as they jetted out for India ahead of the tournament opener on March 8.

They open their campaign in Nagpur against Afghanistan and also face Zimbabwe and Hong Kong in the preliminary round as they bid to battle through to the second phase, where among the big guns await England and South Africa.

Mommsen knows a positive display could not only help see the Scots through, but potentially put their players on course for lucrative deals in county cricket and perhaps even money-rich competitions like the IPL.

The batsman - who has previously featured for Leicestershire - said: "It is absolutely a shop window for us. We are all one innings, one outstanding performance away from changing our lives.

"I know it's a cliche but the sky is the limit for our guys. If we can put on a stand-out display it could open a whole host of opportunities up from country cricket to playing T20 in tournaments right around the world. Those are real opportunities for most of us.

"We've spoken about that as a group and it's very exciting for us. Hopefully it inspires us to play even better cricket."

Scotland have never won a match at at T20 or 50-over World Cup in 18 attempts and know three victories are likely required against their fellow minnow nations this time if they are to fight their way past round one.

Grant Bradburn's team hope to use the experience of playing at last year's 50-over World Cup to their benefit in the sub-continent.

There they faced the likes of joint hosts New Zealand and Australia as well as the English - suffering some comprehensive defeats.

But they also managed to let slip a precious win despite having the Afghans on the rack at 97-7, with Samiullah Shenwari's 96 helping their rivals eventually snatch victory with just three balls remaining.

Mommsen, though, insists that crushing loss can help motivate his side for next month's rematch.

"We will use the pain of losing to Afghanistan as inspiration for this tournament a lot," he said. "I still have sleepless nights about that one.

"But that is what sport is about. We've got another opportunity in game one to take them on, head on. We will be really fired up for it."

Watch the ICC World T20, live on Sky Sports from March 8.