Bangladesh’s Imrul Kayes expects that the confidence derived from the opening Test will give additional boost to the home side when they take the field in Dhaka for the second and ultimate Test match against world number one Test nation South Africa.
According to the Test opener, another draw, if not a win, will be a huge achievement for Bangladesh who are ranked ninth in the ICC Test standings.
The first of the two-Test between the hosts and the African nation in Chittagong ended in a tame draw as rain washed out the last two days after some competitive cricket from both the sides till day three.
The down pour is still a threat for the second Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium that starts on Thursday. Continuous rain confined both Bangladesh and South Africa to practice sessions at the indoor facilities in Mirpur yesterday.
“As I said before if we can draw the Dhaka Test it will be a huge achievement for us. We have displayed positive attitude in batting, bowling and fielding in the Chittagong Test but unlucky for us that it was a washout. If we can remain positive and perform according to our plan then we can put up a good show,” said Imrul who scored 26 in the first Test.
“We are playing against the number one ranked side where they don’t bowl lose deliveries often. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel are amongst the top bowlers in world cricket, they read the pitch immediately and knew that short balls were not going work on that wicket. The pitch in Chittagong, you can spend some time in the middle but still scoring wasn’t easy.”
The 28-year old continued, “And we are concentrating on playing good cricket and not thinking about the result. After losing the ODI series, South African side are hungry to do well against us.”
Imrul, who scored 150 in a record 312-run opening stand with Tamim Iqbal against Pakistan earlier this year, has established himself as a Test opener under coach Chandika Hathurusingha as he credited the Sri Lankan for giving the freedom to the batsmen to play their natural game. Imrul also praised his younger teammate Liton Kumar Das for his impressive batting in Chittagong.
