Dhaka – Touring Bangladesh Cricket Team are seeking to end their losing streak in Tests when they take on Pakistan in the first match of the two-match Test series beginning on Friday (February 7) at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Pakistan
The match will start at 11am (Bangladesh time) and will be telecast live by Gazi TV.
Bangladesh won their last Test more than one year ago. During the period, the Tigers played five Tests and lost all the matches. But, ahead of the Test series in Pakistan, Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque insisted that they are eager to end their drought.
Before heading to this series, Bangladesh faced Pakistan in 10 Tests and lost nine of them with remaining one ending in draw. Four of those matches were played in Pakistan where Bangladesh were defeated in all the matches.
“The drought must come to an end, and we’re looking forward to do it in Rawalpindi. We’re well prepared to do this. I hope our team are up and confident of doing well against Pakistan in their home,” Mominul told reporters at the pre-series press conference on Thursday.
Bangladesh are playing a Test match in Pakistan after 17 years. They toured Pakistan to play the Test series for the last time in 2003. Bangladesh captain believes the long gap will not create any problem to adapt to the local condition.
“You have to adapt to the condition wherever you go to play cricket outside the country. Since coming here, we’re trying to adapt to the local condition. Things have gone well so far. I think there’ll be no problem with the condition,” Mominul added.
Bangladesh are going to miss the service of Mushfiqur Rahim in the ensuing series. The right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman opted not to tour Pakistan citing concern from his family. Along with Mushfiqur, Bangladesh will also miss the service of Shakib Al Hasan, who was banned by the ICC for failing to report a corrupt approach.
In their absence, the onus of leading the side will be on batsmen like Mominul Haque, Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah Riyad, especially on Tamim, who struck a triple century in the ongoing Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) right before flying to Pakistan.
“It’s difficult to play without the services of the best players. But, we’re upbeat to fill up their gaps and at the same time, it’s a good opportunity for the young guys who came in. They’re keen to prove their worth,” Mominul added.
“And of course, Tamim is a world-class player. He has been proving himself for a long time. He played a good knock before coming here. I don’t think it’ll be tough for him to do the same here,” he added.
Before the ensuing Test, Pakistan played nine Tests at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium with three win, three losses and other three matches ended in a draw.
Bangladesh Squad: Tamim Iqbal, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque (c), Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah Riyad, Liton Das (w), Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Abu Jayed Rahi, Ebadot Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Al-Amin Hossain and Nayeem Hasan
Pakistan Squad: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan (w), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Fawad Alam, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Bilal Asif and Faheem Ashraf.UNB
