Eye on spin before Tigers’ Lankan Test assignment

Members of the Bangladesh Test side had been undergoing sessions with local coaches for a while now to gear up for the upcoming Tests against Sri Lanka -- also Bangladesh's first assignment in the new World Test Championship cycle -- slated to begin at Galle on June 17.

With most of the national team players off playing in UAE and Pakistan on T20 assignments, the Tigers' Test players have been looking get into the groove of batting for long periods.

The sessions ended on Monday with a two-day match-scenario session. Special focus was on the spin threat, usually evident in Galle, the venue of the first Test. The last time Bangladesh played in Galle, veteran Rangana Herath picked up a six-fer in the second innings as Bangladesh lost by 259 runs.

In Bangladesh's last Test tour of Sri Lanka in 2021, Praveen Jayawickrama picked up 11 wickets in the Kandy Test to see the hosts win by 209 runs and clinch the series 1-0.

The idea for the Test side is to bat for long hours in Sri Lanka and the two-day session tried to focus on that particular aspect as well.

"The wickets in Sri Lanka are very good for batting on the first two days and it starts to spin on day four and five," one of the cricketers informed regarding the two-day session.

"We are focusing on batting and developing skills. We got a good spin and pace attack so I feel it would be a batting wicket. The batters were asked to bat on both days of the session and the bowlers only had the task of bowling. It was hard to counter the spinners with the new ball as the ball was turning quite a bit in the two-day session but it became easier when the ball got old."

Coach Sohel Islam said that the two-day practice match was not really match-scenario training.

"We can't say that it was match-scenario training, since when a batter got out, they did not really go out to bat again. There was no specific time which they were required to bat, once they were out, they went back to the dugout. I selected a few batters, and said that these are the ones who will go and bat.

"Every session was two hours to give a proper match feeling. We had 80 overs each day although rain interrupted proceedings [on the first day]," Sohel told The Daily Star.

Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim were able to bat the longest in the rain-interrupted two-day session before Eid. The two veterans would be key to Bangladesh's hope of countering Sri Lanka's spin.

Mominul in particular looked compact while Mushfiqur was timing the ball pretty well against pacers Nahid Rana and Ebadot Hossain.

"They batted well, as you know Sri Lankan wickets have help for spinners and we didn't keep grass on the wickets [at Mirpur]," Sohel informed.

BCB sources have said that new faces are unlikely in the Test squad for the upcoming series. It means the team management are likely favouring experience and solidity instead of experimenting for the two Tests.

The Test squad announcement is likely to come soon and the team management are likely to continue preparations before the team departs for Sri Lanka on the tentative date of June 13th.