All-rounder Mehedi Hasan Miraz said the time has come for Bangladesh to have sporting wickets at home in Tests.
The off-spinner's statement is driven from the positive and drastic improvements made by the Bangladesh pace bowling arsenal.
Playing at home, Bangladesh always had to count on their spin attack on spin-friendly tracks.
There was even an occasion when Bangladesh played a Test with just one fast bowler in the XI.
However, Bangladesh pacers have come of age these days and are now leading the pack from the front with the likes of Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed and others delivering in winning cause.
Miraz, who is four wickets away from 150 Test wickets, expects the wicket in Mirpur to be sporting – where the pacers will dominate, spinners will have good chance as well and the batters can score big by overcoming the challenging condition.
The statement from the Bangladesh cricketer came ahead of the lone Test against visitors Ireland.
Hosts Bangladesh will take on the Irish side in the one-off Test at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Tuesday.
Bangladesh however, will miss the services of star fast bowler Taskin who is nursing a side strain and has been ruled out.
“The way the wicket looked [Monday], we can go with more pacers [more than two] but it is for the team management to decide,” said Miraz at the pre-match press conference in Mirpur Monday.
“The spinners do well at home but sporting wicket will create opportunity for the pace bowlers too. We saw the wicket. They [pitch curator] are trying to have a good wicket, so we can expect to have a good game of Test cricket,” Miraz added.
Miraz also hinted that Bangladesh will play attacking cricket even in the longest format of the game.
Bangladesh are heading into the solitary Test on the back of a 2-0 win in the one-day international series and 2-1 victory in the Twenty20 international series against Ireland.
In terms of Test heritage, Bangladesh are far ahead of Ireland.
The Irish started playing Test in 2017 and till date have contested only three matches.
Despite the vast difference, Miraz is not taking Ireland lightly.
“If you have noticed, there is attacking brand of cricket in modern day, teams are trying to attack even in Test format in world cricket at the moment. So obviously we will also try to do the same and definitely apart from the small technical changes, our mentality will remain the same. At the end of the day scoring runs matters whether it is white-ball or red-ball cricket,'' said Miraz.
