An injury troubled Bangladesh team will look for a rare Test win against Sri Lanka and secure the points up for grab in the ICC Test Championship when the two teams meet in the second and the final Test of the series starting Monday at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Bangladesh till date have faced the Lankans in 23 Tests but have won only once and lost in 17.
Bangladesh ahead of the series missed out regular Test all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz and in-form right-arm pacer Taskin Ahmed. Following the first Test in Chittagong, the home team found two more injury concerns – in left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam to a fractured hand and right-arm spinner Nayeem Hasan to a finger injury. The team management and the selection panel will look into possible replacements in Mosaddek Hossain and pacer Ebadot Hossain of Nayeem and Shoriful respectively.Bangladesh will be eager for the win in Mirpur – a venue known for producing results in Test matches- and at times inside four days of play. The venue in the capital city has till date hosted 23 Test matches of which 13 games were won by the away teams while hosts Bangladesh have won six games. Three matches have finished as draw while one got cancelled due to inclement weather.
Given the slow nature of the surface at Mirpur, Bangladesh have often picked three slow bowlers and one seamer and it won’t be a surprise for them to go with a similar strategy.
Bangladesh have little worry with the batting unit considering the performance in the previous game. Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim struck hundreds, while Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Liton Das made half-centuries in the first Test. Captain Mominul Haque, however, will be expected to come out from the shell and score runs in the only format that he plays for the country. The left-handed top order batter in his last 14 innings has scored only one-half century – 88 against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui- and a highest of 37, against the same opponents, in last four matches. Though Mominul has shown zero concern on his batting recently, he surely knows his responsibility with willow to the team.
Sri Lanka on the other hand, also have no worry with the batting unit. They were in a decent shape in the previous game having posted 397 runs in the first innings with veteran Angelo Mathews in the lead with a 199-run innings. Throughout the game the Lankans batters were involved in five half-centuries.
Visitors Sri Lanka are well aware of the spin friendly conditions at SBNS. They are likely to be spin heavy too but the problem is neither left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya nor offspinner Ramesh Mendis were able to contribute in Chattogram. The duo was able to pick just one just one wicket for 123 runs between them. The Lankans if willing for a change have option in slow left-armer Praveen Jayawickrama who took 11 wickets against Bangladesh in Pallekele last year.
Rain is in forecast in the first two days of the game but the interruptions are unlikely to deny the game reach a result. International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Greg Barclay, who is on a two-day visit of Bangladesh, will watch the first session of the opening day of the game.
