Ahead of the two-match Test series against India, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said that his side wants to win both the long-format matches. The two-match Test series between India and Bangladesh will kick off on September 19 at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium. Currently, Bangladesh are in top form as they have whitewashed Pakistan 2-0, winning their first test series on Pakistani soil. The Bengal Tigers clinched a massive 10-wicket victory over Pakistan in the first Test match. While in the second long-format match, they won it by six wickets.
Speaking at the pre-departure press conference in Dhaka, Najmul accepted that it will be a challenging series against India. However, he added that the Bengal Tigers are having “extra confidence” after win over Pakistan in Test series.
“It will be a challenging series but we have the extra confidence from the Pakistan series. I guess the whole country has that confidence now. Every series is an opportunity. We want to win both Tests, but we have to stick to our process. If we do our job, we can get a good result,” Najmul Hossain was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.
The Bangladesh skipper talked about their goals during their tour of India.
“They are well ahead of us in the rankings. But we did play well recently. We want to play well for five days, that’s our goal. We want to get the result in the last session of the Test match. At that time, the match can go in any direction. It is an opportunity [to get our first win in India]. We will play with a win in mind. But we don’t want to think too far ahead. We want to do well for five days, and play to our strength. That’s most important,” he added.
Najmul Hossain further added that Bangladesh have a good bowling attack, who can bowl at any condition.
“We are in a good place with our bowling attack, both spin and pace. Perhaps our pacers are behind them in terms of experience but our spin attack is close to theirs. They can bowl in any conditions. All I can say is that our pacers, spinners and batters will give 100%,” he further added.
The second Test between India and Bangladesh will be held in Kanpur, which will be played from September 27.
Currently, Team India are leading the WTC standings with a point percentage of 68.52, and their upcoming series in the WTC include Bangladesh (two Tests, home), New Zealand (three Tests, home), and Australia (five Tests, away).
India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, and Yash Dayal.
Bangladesh squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumer Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Jaker Ali Anik.
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