After drawing the first Test of the two-match series against Sri Lanka in Kandy, the Bangladesh team is looking forward to having a sporting or spin-friendly wicket in the second Test starting from Thursday at the same venue. 

The wicket of the first match was flat which made the bowlers toil for all five days. The bowlers were able to take only 17 out of 40 wickets. On the other hand, a total of four centuries were struck in this game with one of those ending in a double-ton. 

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“I think the wicket of the first Test was a completely flat track,” Khaled Mahmud, the Bangladesh team leader, told the media over a video message. “We hope the wicket of the next match will be sporting or spin-friendly or may be pace-friendly. We expect that the wicket won’t be flat as it was in the previous game. As far as we know, the home team didn’t like the track of the first game.”

Bangladesh played the series opener with two spinners and three pacers in the bowling attack. Taskin Ahmed, who returned to the Test setup after three years, bagged three wickets for the Tigers while Taijul Islam took two. 

“It was tough for the bowlers to do well in this sort of wicket,” Mahmud added. “But they worked really hard. Taskin bowled for more than 30 overs. Ebadot (Hossain) and others did well as well. I’m really happy about their performance.”

Bangladesh had scored 541 runs in the first innings of the match which created hope for a win in Kandy. But when Sri Lanka came up with a bigger innings, the hope of a win faded away. 

“When (Najmul Hossain) Shanto and Mominul (Haque) were in the middle and we were approaching a big score, we hoped that we can pick up a win in this game if we bowl and field well. We thought the ball might turn on the final day, that didn’t happen.” Mahmud added. 

Before this series, Bangladesh played a two-match Test series at home against the West Indies, which the home side lost 2-0. Mahmud said it was tough for Mominul and his team to make a good comeback in Sri Lanka. According to him, a draw is good for the team and they will learn to win Tests playing this way. 

Also read: Rain forces early close of high-scoring Kandy Test

“The team was under enormous pressure after losing the series at home. There was a big question about our ability in Test cricket and everyone is eying to this series to see how we play here. I am happy that the guys did well and they gave their hundred per cent to prove their ability,” he further added. 

Najmul hit his maiden Test ton in the first innings of the Kandy Test and ended up on 163 while Momimul also hit a ton which was his first away from home. Riding on these two centuries, Bangladesh hoped to seal the game. 

“Najmul was brilliant while he was in the field. And we have to talk about Mominul as well. There was much talk about his ability to do well outside the home. He got a ton and proved that he can play well anywhere. Apart from them, Tamim (Iqbal) was outstanding in both innings of the first match while Mushfiqur (Rahim) and Liton (Das) also supported well. Overall, we are happy with the way batsmen performed in this series so far.”

Drawing the first Test, Bangladesh secured 30 points in the World Test Championship. They have previously played five Tests of this event and lost all of them.