While the strategy of bombarding the Bangladeshi batsmen with short pitched balls was highly successful in the first Test in Dhaka, Kumar Sangakkara said that the visitors would be looking for a different strategy on the grassless wicket in Chittagong, adding that the short ball could still be useful, yesterday after the first practice session at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.
“Hard to use the same strategy, because the wicket looks quite different from there to now, but even on this track, a short ball can be useful. We don’t really know what we we’ll plan for the batsmen, but our job is to do the basics well – put the ball in the right areas. If we have a specific strategy, to make sure the bowlers bowl to that field and that strategy,” said Sangakkara.
The 36-year old veteran praised his teammates’ showing in the first Test, signaling out Kithuruwan Vithanage, who scored his maiden hundred after replacing Prasanna Jayawardene in the playing 11 at the last minute.
“It was very good to see that we stuck to our disciplines and our basics really well – especially Mahela, Kaushal Silva and Kithuruwan. I thought they were excellent. Kithuruwan especially, coming in almost on the morning of the game for Prasanna, and to be able to do what he did shows a special talent,” he said. He went on to stress that there was no complacency in the team and they were fully focused on the next match.
Sangakkara said that the first Test had been easier than Sri Lanka had expected but noted that the Tigers had put on a tough fight last year in Sri Lanka, “We’re pretty much used to Bangladesh putting up a pretty good fight usually. They pushed us in the Test series over there, and we walked away with a 1-all in the one-day series. More often than not they are more competitive in the one-day version of the game, so in the shorter formats of the game, we know we’re in for the fight. We won’t expect anything less than that from them here. So the earlier game was easier than we thought it would be, but we expect it to be different here.”
Speaking of Mahela Jayawardena equaling Sangakkara’s Sri Lankan record of 33 Test centuries in Dhaka, the left-hander expressed the feeling that healthy competition within the team was a good thing. Sangakkara himself made 75 in Dhaka and is looking to make a big score in the upcoming match.
A former wicket-keeper himself, Sangakkara spoke about Bangladesh’s captain/wicket-keeper/batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, who had a poor match in Dhaka, dropping four chances. “I don’t know. We bat in different positions. He bats at no. 6, and I’ve always batted at no.3. I used to keep and bat no. 3, so after you’ve kept for a long time and you walk in at no. 3 – especially if an opener gets out pretty early – that was one of the reasons I was asked to give up keeping. That’s a question for the Bangladeshi selectors and Mushfiqur to answer for himself. It really depends on what you enjoy and how you do it,” he said.
Asked about the ICC draft proposal, which has been the subject of much speculation recently, Sangakkara said, “I haven’t seen the new draft paper. I don’t know exactly what’s in it. I think there was an earlier draft paper that’s been changed and modified and presented again. I don’t think I can make a comment without understanding what the issues are and what the draft paper really says. I won’t be able to make an informed comment on it, unless I really see it.”
