Bangladesh expect Zimbabwe to come hard against them in the second Test in Khulna after going down by 1-0 in the three-match Test series with a narrow three-wicket defeat in Dhaka.
The Tigers started their preparation at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium for the second Test match, scheduled to be held at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna from November 3-7.
Spin bowling coach Ruwan Kalpage urged the Tigers not to take the Zimbabweans lightly despite the visitors’ weakness against tweaking balls, which were clearly exposed by Sakib al Hasan and Taijul Isalm.
‘We can’t put anyone down,’ Kalpage told reporters on Wednesday. ‘Zimbabwe beat Australia in a one day match recently and I think they will definitely come hard at us in the second Test.’
Kalpage praised his spinners for scripting the hard-fought win and had full faith on them to do well in the remaining two Tests than their counterparts.
‘I am very happy, especially Sakib, who played after a long time and got six wickets for him to get his confidence back,’ said Kalpage.
‘Also for debutant Jubair [Hossain] and Taijul [Islam] getting eight wickets and winning the match for Bangladesh,’
Taijul bowled in a very good line which created a lot of pressure on the batsmen,’ said Kalpage, adding that the new brand of SG ball, which was used in the first Test, made a big difference.
‘I think we played on the Kookaburra ball in the past and now we have moved to SG, I think that helps the spinners, as that is one area we are looking forward to,’ he said.
Kalpage, who initially joined as a fielding before his responsibility was changed, put his emphasis on fielding.
Bangladesh dropped too many catches but was lucky not to be punished hard for it. This is the one area where Zimbabwe showed that they are much better than us. They executed three run outs and claimed few outstanding catches.
‘I think we can always field better, there are enough areas to improve and we are looking forward to that.’
Bangladesh received an injury scare during Wednesday’s training session as opener Tamim Iqbal injured his right thumb and was immediately taken to the hospital for an X-ray.
The injury however proved nothing serious.
-With New Age input
