The Tigers and touring England started practising yesterday, readying to face each other in the first Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium here from tomorrow.
The Tigers landed in the port city on Tuesday night and practised at the venue on Wednesday for two hours in the morning while the English side had a session in the afternoon.
Tigers coach Jamie Siddons sees the recent performances of his team as improving and said that the performances were much more important than the results.
"Now we are playing till the last day of Test matches which is good for us and it is not just costing games but we are also putting up a fight now," he said adding that each game and challenge is different.
Siddons hinted that Bangladesh would go into the game with three spinners. Abdur Razzak and Shakib al Hasan will be the first choice bowlers with Mahmudullah Riyad offering some variation with his off-spin. The three have troubled England considerably in the ODI series and will look to continue the same in the Test matches. Shafiul Islam and Rubel Hossain are expected to fill out the two pacer' slots.
Siddons also spoke about the omission of Mohammad Ashraful from the Test squad, stating that experience counted for nothing if a player was not performing.
"Most of us want Ashraful in the team and unfortunately he could not find his form," said the Australian.
On the other hand, England batsman Ian Bell said that the workout against Bangladesh A in the practice game would be very useful in the Test match.
"It was nice to get out on these conditions and score a few runs on the venue where we will play the Test match," he said.
"Our bowlers have also had enough overs to be acquainted with the pitch since we are staying here since the third ODI," he added.
But Bell still believes there's plenty of hard work to be done. "I'm still working my way back and trying to cement myself in the team. I'm as hungry as ever to score runs and I've been working as hard as I can to do that."
Source: thedailystar.net
