Mushfiqur hopes batsmen will pull through

The Dhaka Test opened a can of worms for Bangladesh. Despite a victory their batting, meant to be one of their strengths in home conditions, became a cause for concern. The Khulna pitch might ease some of those worries but Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim said the top order needed to buckle up.

"In any Test match you can see one or two soft dismissals, but in our case we see five or six soft dismissals, which is really alarming," Mushfiqur said. "We are trying to improve our concentration. We are trying to focus in a way that if someone gets 50, he should score another 50 for the team. If the batsman can do it, he will get a hundred and the team will also benefit. Our top-order batsmen were a bit attacking. We just hope they will play their normal game."

The openers faltered in both innings of the Dhaka Test, neither managing double-digit scores. Tamim Iqbal was caught in the cordon twice, while Shamsur Rehman holed out to mid-off in an early show of aggression in the first innings and chopped on trying to leave the ball in the second. That left the middle order with a repair job which they handled well in the first innings but almost botched on the third day. It took a measured hand from Mushfiqur in the second innings to take Bangladesh to victory.

"We said before the series that we will play every game to win, will give our best effort so that we can win every game," he said. "We won the first game though everything did not go the way we wanted. Hopefully things will go our way in the second Test. Even if it takes us five days to win the game, we will take it. We are ready to win by any means and everybody is keen to perform. Our focus is to overcome mistakes that we made in the first Test."

The match also gave the home side a glimpse of the threat Zimbabwe could pose in the series - their pace bowlers extracting enough help from the pitch. Mushfiqur said both teams had disclosed their cards.

"Zimbabwe is not an easy team. You saw in the last Test they only had 100 runs to defend yet they gave a good fight," Mushfiqur said. "They also know now the strength of our bowlers, who bowls in which line, similarly we know the weakness of their batsmen, who got out how. We will try to plan that way. Last Test ended in three days, but if we expect the same here it will be a mistake. I think they are now better prepared. But we are also ready mentally. If we need to fight till the last ball of the fifth day for a win we are ready for that."

The Khulna pitch is likely to suit the home side better. It's the usual brown subcontinent clay unlike the dark soil in Dhaka that aided bounce. This surface is likely to get slower and lower with time. And it will turn.

"If notice, you will see the wicket is different in Khulna and Chittagong than Mirpur," Mushfiqur said. "It will not be as bouncy as Mirpur, so the extra bounce they extracted there, they will not get it here. It's not that our pacer did very badly. What Shahadat did was very important.

"There is a difference between our spin attack and their spin attack. We have a world-class bowler like Shakib Al Hasan, plus Taijul has claimed two five-fors in four Tests. Likhon [Jubair Hossain] is also in fine form. Their spinners are inexperienced, which we saw in the first Test, they gave three-plus runs an over. Our aim will be attacking their inexperienced bowlers. We are mainly worried about our batting."

There is also the bigger carrot dangling in the background. A win in Khulna will help Bangladesh leapfrog Zimbabwe in the Test rankings but Mushfiqur said that is one area they do not want to think too much about.

"Ranking is of course one issue but if you think too much about it, I think we will deviate from the process," he said. "If we do well batting, bowling and fielding I think we will get a result and ranking will go up. First thinking is about win."

Mushfiqur indicated he might move one place up the order to No. 5, displacing Shakib, who like Tamim, was out playing aggressive shots. One of the impact players in the team, Shakib spent some time during practice talking with former Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore. The last time he played a Test in Khulna, Shakib hit a second-innings 97. Come tomorrow, a house-full stadium will surely get behind him, wanting him to play aggressively, but perhaps it would not be the game Bangladesh want him to play.