Azad Majumder. Chittagong
After a spirited show in Dhaka, Bangladesh are keen to keep up the momentum when they face the visiting Sri Lanka in the second Test at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium starting today.
‘The performance in the second innings of the first Test in Dhaka, gave us a lot of confidence. We are getting better as a team and the boys believe that and this year we will have plenty of opportunities to show our improvement,’ said Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful.
‘We need to bat four sessions at least in the first innings. If we do that then we’ll have a decent score on the board. That’s the pre-requisite for us to get a positive result in Test matches,’ added Ashraful.
Bangladesh were all out for 178 runs in the first innings of the first Test before making a stunning comeback in the second innings to make 413 runs, their highest ever total in the second innings
The last Test match at Chittagong, in which Bangladesh came very close to beating New Zealand, also came as an inspiration for them. A similar wicket prompted the Tigers to think about taking another spinner to assist Sakib al Hasan, the man of the match in the last Test and also a star performer against New Zealand.
‘The wicket is very different from the one in Dhaka but almost similar to the track we had played on against New Zealand here in October. It looks like a pitch where the spinners may play a role,’ said Ashraful.
‘There is a good chance that Enamul (Haque Jr.) might come in. I think he deserves to play on this track. If he plays then it will be in place of a pace bowler and in that case Robin (Mahbubul Alam) will be left out,’ he added.
Sri Lanka also have a chance to make a change and that too in the spin department with Ajantha Mendis poised to take the place of Rangana Herath. Mendis joined the squad after the first Test.
Sri Lanka want to start their year afresh with the Test, said skipper Mahela Jayawardene, who will be playing his 100th Test with 74 runs shy of making 8,000 Test runs.
Only 47 cricketers in the history have played 100 Test matches with India’s VVS Laxman being the last and only 19 cricketers have made 8,000 runs, still Jayawardene is not getting carried away.
‘I can’t say that I’m not emotional. It has been an honour to play for Sri Lanka and I have said this before that I never expected to play 100 Test matches when I started off,’ said Jayawardene.
‘This is the start of another important
year for us. Last year we beat India in a Test series, drew with England and beat the West Indies in West Indies for the first time in our history. This is a new year and the boys are very keen to start afresh,’ he added.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
