Tigers confident of doing well in SL
Mushfiq sees a good chance to beat weaker SL
Sports Reporter
Bangladesh Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim has seen a good chance to challenge the Sri Lanka in the upcoming series, mulling some of the crucial facts that he believes to work for them.
For the first time Bangladesh will face a Sri Lankan batting line up without the legends like Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, Tilkaratne Dilshan who scored heavily against them. In addition, Angelo Mathews, the regular captain who averages 57 against Bangladesh will be missing due to a hamstring injury.
If those batsmen are missing to give Bangladesh some edge, Mushfiqur Rahim led Test team has started doing well in this format of late, raising the stake high for them. Bangladesh has been in a continuous Test cricket unlike the past and in the last three Tests, they have pushed the opponents vigorously that gives them a confidence to challenge the Lankan side even on their home condition.
Last but not the least, left arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman returned to the Test squad and is expected to form a formidable bowling attack alongside two quality spinners like Shakib Al Hasan and Mehedi Hasan Miraj. According to Mushfiqur, Lankan batting line up will feel huge pressure against the trio.
I must say that the opposition will feel the pressure playing against a bowling attack that has Shakib, Mustafizur and Mehedi Hasan Miraj. In addition, we are going to play a third Test series in a row, in a short span of time. This will certainly be an advantage to us, Mushfiqur said yesterday.
Bangladesh are in right direction in Test cricket, a format in which they were considered vulnerable, said Mushfiqur. He believed they though couldnt earn the expected result in the last two series against New Zealand and India, their gradual progress in Test format would make Sri Lanka worried.
After learning from these series, we could handle such situation in Test better. As a player and captain, I can say I could do handle such situation better. Overall, the whole team will do better in days to come.
Last time Bangladesh toured in Sri Lanka in 2013. Bangladesh though could not win any Test match, some players did well individually with Mushfiqur himself became the first Bangladeshi batsman to score a double century in Test cricket.
In every series, there is an opportunity for a team. Some of their experienced players are not in the team. Even their regular skipper Angelo Mathews is not in Test. I think we should not forget it that we have to play at their home ground. Obviously they will be under pressure, the wicketkeeper-batsman said.
They also know that Bangladesh are matured enough than the past. In that sense, I will say that the opportunity we have, if we could give our best then the result will come to our favour. We are excited for this. We will also try our best for it. We have gathered some information from our coaching staffs who all are Sri Lankan. Hopefully it will also helpful for us, he pointed out.
We have to start everything afresh. In Galle, they always build up spinning track. In the past, the wicket they had built for us that was batting friendly and the result almost was in our favour. Finally we could not capitalize it. This time we have a balanced side. We are ready to play regardless of the wicket, he added.
The second and last Test in Sri Lanka will be milestone Test for Bangladesh after stepping into Test arena in 2000. When asked about 100th Test, the diminutive man said that they will try to make it memorable.
