Bangladesh stand-in captain Mahmudullah said they have great chance to win the Test series against Sri Lanka as struggling on a surface in Chittagong will be more help for the bowlers at Mirpur.
“We got out of a tough position in the first Test in Chittagong and managed to snatch admirable draw against Sri Lanka. So, this game is a great chance for us to win a Test series. I think all the players are thinking positively, which will help our outcome,” said Mahmudullah at a pre-match press conference held on Wednesday at the conference room of Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur.
Even a good thing will be happened if the Tigers able to snatch a draw in the second Test against the Lankans, they will be for the first time move up No 8 Test ranking. The Bangladesh captain, however, not thinking about the team’s ranking rather concentrates to win the match.
Mahmudullah confirmed that spinner Abdur Razzak is under consideration but insinuates that there could be changes in the lineup according to the conditions.
“[Razzak] is under consideration and so are the other spinners. But we haven’t finalized our best XI yet, he added.
Tigers’ bowlers toiled for more than six sessions to pick up nine Sri Lanka wickets at Chittagong as the Lankans amassed over 700 runs in their first innings. Bangladesh managed to get out of a difficult position following brilliant knocks from Mominul Haque and Liton Das. Mahmudullah hinted that the Mirpur surface will be difficult for the batsmen and spinner will get advantage.
“The Mirpur wicket seems like a dry surface and bowlers will get help from it and I think the surface will be challenging for the batsmen, but we will have to keep our aim,” he said.
“There will be extra help for spinners here which sometimes gets us too excited. So, we have to keep that in check and bowl well in partnerships.”
