Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto stressed
upon the requirements of sticking to the process to stop Indian juggernaut in
the two-match series opening Test, starting tomorrow (Thursday) at M
Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
India have been invincible at home, not losing any Test series for more than
4000 days. They in fact won successive 17 Test series at home in the last 12
years. In this period, they lost only four Test matches.
Bangladesh also have never beaten India in Test format, losing 11 of 13 and
drawing two Tests, largely due to the blessings of inclement weather.
But this time, they are high on confidence, which stemmed from their historic
series victory against Pakistan. According to Shanto, they need to follow the
same process, which won them the series against Pakistan a couple of weeks
ago.
“We played very good cricket against Pakistan. The series victory is a morale
booster and gave us the necessary confidence to outclass India,” Shanto told
the reporters in Chennai today.
”
But this is a new series. Players in the dressing room believe that we are
able to play very good cricket here as well. We are not thinking about
results. We want to follow the process.”
Bangladesh’s morale was lifted basically due to their ability to hit back
from the dire strait in Pakistan series. In both Tests, Bangladesh were on
the receiving end but they fought like a wounded Tigers to snatch the victory
from the jaws of defeat.
What was more morale boosting was their comeback from the precarious 26-6 in
the first innings of the second Test. A scintillating century of Liton Das
coupled with Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s steely resolve helped Tigers bail out of
the danger and eventually won the game.
But given India’s strength, such a comeback from trick situation may not be
possible. Shanto admitted India as stronger opponent than Pakistan but
confident of putting up a tough fight.
“We all know how strong the Indian side is. But it is more important to think
about yourself than about your opponent
. I believe our team has the potential
to play good cricket here. It’s five-day cricket, so the target is to take
the game to the fifth day and if we can do so, there is opportunity for us to
beat India,” he added.
“The goal is same: we want to win every match. All international teams have
this goal. We have the same goal. We will do whatever it takes to win.”
Bangladesh have played three Tests on Indian soil so far and lost all badly.
Shanto said they need to win on overseas condition to force the strong
nations to play more Test matches with them.
“We won the series against Pakistan. We need to win Test series regularly on
overseas ground. Only then the strong International team will want to play
against us. It is a great opportunity to see how well we can play cricket
here in India. Hopefully, the way the Bangladesh team is playing Test cricket
now, I think all teams will be interested to play with us.”
India is in second spot in the ICC Test rankings. When asked what kind of
challenges he e
xpects against India in India’s condition, Shanto said: “We
are not thinking about the condition and opponent. We are only thinking about
ourselves. The match will go in our favour if we can stick to our plan.”
Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha