Bangladesh v England, 2nd Test Preview: England aim for a more dominating outing

The buzz of the 22 runs victory in the first test ay Chittagong is still around. Visitors England showed character and pulled things in their favour while Bangladesh fought brilliantly and came close to beating a much higher ranked Test team. The Test match was an exciting contest from the viewers’ perspective but both teams weren’t really happy eventually and end with a feeling of doing much better.

Both the side looked bit fragile in the batting department and suffered collapses which led momentum shifting all the time during the Chittagong Test. It’s also easy to conclude that the difference between win and loss for the Bangladesh was the team effort. In a bowler-dominated fixture, the much experienced England gave a team effort whereas Bangladesh mainly focused on going by their strengths.

As the second Test begins in Mirpur on October 28, both the teams will look forward to performing with more consistency and authority.

Bangladesh:

Spin will be the strength with which they would like to dominate the opposition. The three-man spin attack comprising of Shakib al Hasan, debutant Mehedi Hasan and Taijul Islam created all the rumble, taking 18 of the wickets out of the 20 wickets which Bangladesh took in the match. Looking from this point of view, there bowling obviously is strong. Fast bowlers – Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Shafiul Islam – lacked the bite at Chittagong.

Consequently, Bangladesh has called up the uncapped duo of Subashis Roy and Mosaddek Hossain for the second Test against England, while fast bowler Shafiul Islam has been omitted from the squad. The only doubtful, batsman Sabbir Rahman, who had fever throughout the match, recovered on time and been termed fit to play. Rahman debuted in the first Test and made a half-century during the chase.

Probable XI: 

Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (C & WK), Shakib Al Hasan, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Sabbir Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Subashis Roy,  Mehedi Hasan

England:

With only an experienced Shakib al Hasan in the opposition bowling attack, England batsman had very few things to be worried about in the first Test. However, things didn’t go as anticipated by the English fans. The top order collapse in the second innings nearly gave way a famous win to the opposition. The superior players of spin namely Alastair Cook, Joe Root and to some extent Gary Ballance failed badly and left England tottering in both the innings leaving the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes to handle the pressure.

Cook, however, has hinted that England will make a couple of changes, particularly to their bowling attack, ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh. Cook, in a presser, said that England may be tempted to rest Stuart Broad, who is one Test short of 100 Test, and Chris Woakes, while trying to give left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari his debut. Ben Stokes, who was the man of the match, will be too hard to ignore ahead of the upcoming Test and will be the X-factor.

Probable XI: 

Alastair Cook (C), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Gary Balance, Adil Rashid, Gareth Batty, Jonny Bairstow (Wk), Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad/ Zafar Ansari

Match Details:

When: Friday, October 28 – 10.00 AM Local (9:30 AM IST)

Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka

Telecast: GTV (Bangladesh) , Star Sports 4, 4HD (India)

Stats:

• It was only the ninth time in their Test history that that Bangladesh took all Ten wickets in the match.
• Stuart Broad has played 99 matches and needs 1 more to become the fourteenth England player to reach the 100 Matches milestone.
• Shakib al Hasan with 1093 runs and 44 wickets is the highest run getter as well as the highest wicket taker at this venue
• Sri Lanka’s 730/6d versus Bangladesh on 27^th January 2014 is his Test total ever recorded at this venue
• Mushfiqur Rahim will become the third Bangladesh player to feature in 50 Tests after Mohammad Ashraful (61) and Habibul Bashar (50).
• If Broad is rested, then this will be England’s first Test match outside home without James Anderson and Stuart Broad since March 2008.