Tigers' match against Sri Lanka abandoned due to rain

Bangladesh batter Mominul Haque said his 55-ball half-century involved 'calculative risks' rather than an aggressive mentality after the left-handed batter got dismissed while trying to hit a boundary in the last over before Tea on Day 4 of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chattogram on Tuesday.  

Mominul was the only batter to reach fifty in the innings till stumps on the fourth day as the hosts were left reeling at seven down for 268 in pursuit of Sri Lanka's daunting 511-run target.  

"Aggressive, I don't think it [Mominul's approach] was aggressive. The wicket was better in the second innings. I wanted to play normal cricket. If I keep blocking, the bowler manages to create a channel and find that space to exploit," Mominul said after the day's play. 

"If you see my batting against fast bowling, you'd see that I did not play any rushed shot. Against spin, I took calculative risks while playing shots against deliveries that were in my [strong] zone," he added. 

In his favoured venue, the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Mominul looked at ease but was seen forcing several shots to the boundary in a 56-ball 50-run knock that featured eight fours and a six. Right after reaching his fifty, the former skipper was caught in the deep as he tried to sweep one aerially to the boundary against left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya. 

In the final over before Tea, Mominul, playing in his 61st Test, and considered a specialist in the format for Bangladesh, did the exact opposite of what someone of his pedigree and reputation would do as he decided to play a reckless shot and paid the price, leaving his side four down for 132. 

Bangladesh, staring at a very likely big-margin defeat on the fifth day, would have to pull off nothing short of a miracle to escape defeat but considering how the wicket behaved throughout Bangladesh's second innings, Mominul would feel hard done by how he got out as runs were easier to score due to the minimal influence of the pitch and the Tigers, to even have an opportunity to claw out an unlikely draw, needed to bat with time.

Despite not agreeing entirely with his out-of-character approach, Mominul, however, did admit to the reckless manner of his dismissal.  

"It [Mominul's dismissal] was definitely my fault. If you say that I am to blame for getting out in the last over before Drinks, then yes, it is definitely my fault. I should not have played that shot at that time," he said. 

Bangladesh bowling coach Andre Adams was not impressed with his side letting opportunities slip through dropped catches on Day 1 of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chattogram on Saturday.  

The Tigers missed three chances, including two dropped catches, and were made to pay the price as the Lankans ended the first day on top with 314 on the board for the loss of four wickets.

After opting to bat first, Sri Lanka openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Nishan Madushka amassed 96 runs for the first wicket, courtesy of a 57-run knock from the latter.

Both capitalised on reprieves, with Madushka adding 48 runs to his tally after being dropped on nine by Mahmudul Hasan Joy at second slip in the sixth over, while Karunaratne, who was given a life when he was on 22, ended by scoring 86. He would have to thank Shakib Al Hasan for his knock as he fumbled the opportunity over the boundary while fielding at deep fine leg in the 22nd over. Pacer Hasan Mahmud was the bowler on both occasions.

"You will struggle if you drop catches in any game of cricket. Our fielding has been impressive since I joined Bangladesh. Our ground fielding is excellent. There's been some excellent catches," Adams told reporters after the day's play. 

"However, when you drop a catch early, you can pay the price. We have dropped too many catches. We are working on it. Nobody means to drop it. They are doing the work, but they are dropping catches. We have to continue to work on taking catches."

Another chance went begging late in the day when an outside edge off the blade of Angelo Mathews slipped between the wicketkeeper and the fielder at first slip.

This time, it was off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz who was left ruing. 

The tigers also dropped several chances when they suffered a 328-run battering in the first Test against the Lankans in Sylhet.  

"Dropping catches will continue to cost us if we keep doing it. Like the Sylhet Test, there were periods of pressure but not for long enough. For us to compete and be excellent, we need to be excellent for longer," Adams said. 

Debutant Mahmud, who opened the bowling along with Khaled Ahmed, had to wait 55 overs to make his mark on the innings. He dismissed Karunaratne in the second session of the day to pick up his maiden Test scalp before dismissing Mathews nine overs to stumps.

"Hasan was excellent today. He bowled with pretty good control. He is a young bowler. Lots of talent," Adams said.

"I think he has bowled really well. He controlled his line pretty well. His pace was good. He is ready physically. He has to bowl the same throughout the day. The only way to do that is to play at this level. I think he is an exciting bowler. He has got seam movement. He has got swing and pace. Everything you want from a young pace bowler," he added. 

The first Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Sylhet was played on a rather pace-friendly wicket, but as the two-match series moves to Chattogram, conditions are expected to be a lot different.

Chattogram usually produces runs, and for Bangladesh, spin has been the weapon of choice at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. However, for the struggling Bangladesh top-order along with the bowlers, it would be about adjusting to changes Chattogram has on the offing.

The condition in the port city is overcast with rain clouds hovering above, but that may not be enough for the Tigers' pace unit to smile about as the temperature and humidity remain challenging.

"Whatever the conditions are, we have to adapt to be flexible to them," Bangladesh assistant coach Nic Pothas, who will be the interim head coach in Chandika Hathurusingha's absence, said in the press conference yesterday.

In the Sylhet Test, especially in the second innings, the Tigers needed to wait for the second new ball to make breakthroughs and even then, spinners did the talking.

With Shakib Al Hasan back, the spin department, also including Mehedi Hasan and Taijul Islam, will be further bolstered. It could also see Bangladesh go with two pacers, and three spinners – a change from the three-pacer and two-spinner combination in Sylhet.

Shakib, who had not bowled a lot of overs against Ireland in the last Test he played over a year ago, will, however, not feel any less confident with the ball in hand as the star all-rounder has been up to speed, thanks to a few outings in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League.

Shakib is also the highest wicket-taker in Tests at the ground, scalping 64 wickets in 19 matches. Given the spinners' experience, the Tigers' think tank may feel there is an edge to be exploited given Lankan spinners' relative inexperience. However, how Tigers' batters fare would be a bigger concern.

In Mushfiqur Rahim's absence, Shakib will also offer the touch of experience the Tigers definitely craved in their 328-run drubbing in the Sylhet Test.

The bulk of the runs for Sri Lanka in the Sylhet Test were made by their middle and lower-middle order -- mostly by skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Menis, both of whom struck centuries in each of the innings. Given the form of the Lankans' middle-order, it remains to be seen how much the Tigers spinners can hold sway if the presumption about the Chattogram surface being conducive to spin holds true.

Sparks may also fly. Sri Lanka's Angelo Matthews has not yet attended a press conference in this tour but in Shakib's presence, the 'timed-out' incident from World Cup 2023 which resurfaced in the form of its enactment in the preceding ODI and T20I series, could find new grounds.

"The important thing for us as a management group is to manage the mood of the group and as long as we are level, then we will learn. But we certainly aren't an emotional group and it's not an emotional change room," Pothas said.

Lankan skipper Dhananjaya de Silva expected a batting-friendly wicket. When asked about what kind of intent his side were expecting from Bangladesh, he said: "If they come hard, we will go hard. If they keep calm, we will keep calm."

Regarding Shakib, he said: "Why should I talk about him? He's not in my team."

But from Bangladesh's perspective, Shakib will perhaps be the key to adapt and transform.

Key stats

*Bangladesh have only two wins to their name in 23 Tests at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) in Chattogram. The Tigers have lost 19 and drawn seven. The two wins came against Zimbabwe in 2014 and West Indies in 2018 respectively.

*Shakib Al Hasan holds the record for most wickets taken in Tests at ZACS, with 64 in 19 Tests. The star all-rounder is 22 runs away from completing 1,000 runs at the venue.

*Mominul Haque averages 63.42 at ZACS as he amassed 1205 runs in 22 innings. The left-hander has seven centuries and fifty to his name at the venue and is 25 runs away from 4,000 Test runs.

*Sri Lanka pacer Asitha Fernando picked up a 10-wicket haul in his last Test outing against the Tigers. His effort helped the Lankans to a 10-wicket win in Mirpur in May 2022.

Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who had initially opted to sit out the Sri Lanka series owing to fitness issues, joined the Bangladesh Test squad on Thursday ahead of their second and final match against the Lankans in Chattogram on Saturday. Having already suffered a 328-run thumping in the first Test in Sylhet, skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto would be delighted to have the all-rounder available for the crucial contest. Shakib returned to the longer format after nearly a year-long absence. He last played a Test against Ireland in Mirpur in April last year and has not even played any longer-version domestic cricket since then. Photos: Rajib Raihan

Bangladesh opener Zakir Hasan admitted that his side suffered a comprehensive failure in the batting department but did mention the wind playing a part in the Tigers' dismissals on Day 3 of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chattogram on Monday.  

The Tigers dished out another abysmal effort with the bat as they were bundled out for 178 in reply to Sri Lanka's 531-run first-innings total. The hosts started the third day at 55 for the loss of one and lost nine wickets while adding just 123 runs as they were skittled out in the post-Lunch session. 

"We totally failed with the bat. We couldn't bat to our potential or perform our roles. We couldn't play as we were supposed to play," Zakir said after the day's play. 

"We couldn't even execute our first plan. Other plans come later. We couldn't do our basic job. We have to execute our first plan as a batting unit.

"I think the wind played a part in our wickets falling today. Everything else was okay, especially in terms of the wicket. We should have batted much better."

Zakir's knock was the only highlight in Bangladesh's sorry scorecard as the left-handed batter put away eight fours for a 54-run knock -- his fourth fifty in the format – but fell prey to yet another angled in delivery from left-arm pacer Vishwa Fernando. Zakir was left bemused at how much the delivery decked in to castle him but his lack of foot movement in trying to negate such deliveries caught the eyes again.

It has been a consistent weakness for Zakir as he was dismissed in similar fashion when he was trapped lbw by Fernando in the first innings of the previous Test in Sylhet. He got stuck in the crease and could do little to fend off a ball which tailed in on the stumps. In the second innings, it was Lahiru Kumara who exposed Zakir's limited foot movement to dismiss him. 

Zakir, however, put the blame on his shot selection. The 26-year-old has scored a century and all of his four fifties in the second innings of those particular matches and would hope to better his knock as the Tigers, owing to Sri Lanka's already 455-run lead, will have to chase down a record total to win the match.   

"I can't speak for others. Maybe a coaching staff can tell you. In my case, I think I should be more careful with my shot selection. I am not giving an excuse. One has to be prepared coming into a Test match. I think we should grow this mentality on our side," he told reporters. 

"All departments have to fire to win a Test match. I think batting is the most important of all. We can't defend a total if we can't put anything on the scoreboard. We need to have a decent score when we want to take 20 wickets. We haven't been able to do it. We are discussing how to get better, but we are somehow failing altogether," he added.