Bangladesh will be hoping the positives gained from the last Test will motivate the team in the second match against West Indies that starts at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna on Wednesday.
Despite losing the first Test in Dhaka in last week by 77 runs, Bangladesh, who had not played a Test for 11 months, could take heart from the fact they recorded their highest total thanks to fine knocks from Naeem Islam (108), Nasir Hossain (96), Shakib Al Hasan (89) and Tamim Iqbal (72).
Also young off-spinner Shohag Gazi impressed on debut picking up nine wickets in the match.
Captain Mushfiqur Rahim said: "Ahead of the Test match, our concerns were about lasting the five days, but we scored 500-plus and took a first-innings lead.
"These are big achievements. Naeem's maiden Test ton and the performance of the others are also noteworthy.
"But it is sad that we couldn't make 245 or draw the game against an attack that had given us 556 runs. I hope we start making the bowlers work for our wickets.
"If we can bring this into our game, we can do better in every Test in the future.
"The boys really worked hard. We competed well in all the sessions. Congratulations to Gazi on a great debut match.
"We played well over five days against a very good attack and we bowled them out once. So we have the confidence from the positives in the first Test. It's not pressure, but we do expect to play well in Khulna.
"Playing well in Dhaka and scoring over 500 runs, it was a huge relief because we were playing after 11 months. At the same time, we are not taking the loss lightly. It is a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment, what happened in the first and second innings."
Rahim went on to discuss the stadium which will become the country's newest Test venue. He gave a middle-of-the-road assessment of the wicket, saying it would help both batsmen and bowlers.
He added: "It is a huge moment for Khulna. We would hope to start off well here. I didn't play here in the NCL, but we have talked to players who've played here.
"It is a good wicket, helps batsmen, and from the third or fourth day, it helps the spinners. The bounce is good, true, so the pace bowlers will get help."
Meanwhile, the Tigers received a boost when opener Tamim Iqbal passed a fitness test and was cleared to play in the match, a team official said.
"He felt fine batting in the nets and we think he is fit to play tomorrow," team physio Vibhav Singh told reporters at the venue.
Tamim was nursing an elbow problem he picked up in the first Test and underwent the fitness test after a team training session in Khulna.
As a precaution Bangladesh called up uncapped opening batsman Anamul Haque.
Khulna Division batsman Anamul Haque, top scorer at the Under-19 World Cup in August, scored two centuries in his last three first-class matches and the 19-year-old linked up with the squad on Tuesday morning.
West Indies skipper Darren Sammy however did not want to write off the home side and expected them to push the Caribbeans even harder in Khulna.
"Credit must go to them for the way they came out and played this match," he said.
"They batted really well and had a game-plan and executed it well.
"But we always had a belief that we could get a victory, and no matter how hard they fought, we felt we could come out on top.
"Last year we drew the first Test, this year we won it. We have one more Test to go and we'd do everything to win this Test match. We want to win the series 2-0."
West Indies are likely to play the same XI as in the first Test, but Fidel Edwards could be drafted in from among the four reserve players. Though it is unlikely Edwards would replace any of the spinners, despite Sunil Narine's indifferent form in the first Test.
Veerasammy Permaul too is likely to be given an extended run after taking three wickets in Bangladesh's second innings.
The threat to Bangladesh, however, will come through the West Indies fast bowlers - Tino Best and Ravi Rampaul - who took seven second-innings wickets between them in Mirpur.
Sammy was eager to successfully combat the threat posed by Tamim Iqbal.
"I have always watched Tamim score runs quickly. We have a lot of aggressive players in our line-up too. I expect them to come hard at us, but if we stick to our line and lengths, we believe we will get him - and the rest," said Sammy.
TEAMS:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Junaed Siddique, Shahriar Nafees, Naeem Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk/capt), Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah (vice-capt), Shohag Gazi, Shahadat Hossain, Rubel Hossain
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Kieran Powell, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samules, Shivnarine Chanderpaul,
Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy (capt), Veeraswamy Permaul/Fidel Edwards, Sunil Narine, Tino Best, Ravi Rampaul
0 comments:
Post a Comment