Mushfiqur Rahim skeptical ahead of first Test against Australia

Gone are the days when a contest between Bangladesh and Australia was considered one sided, with the latter having the edge. It’s been more than 10 years since that happened and today you cannot rule Bangladesh out especially at home. Such has been the rise of the Asian team in the last two years but skipper Mushfiqur Rahim though isn’t taking anything for granted.

Bangladesh earned their maiden Test win against England at Dhaka in October last year. Since then, all their Tests have been on foreign soil. A lot has changed at the venue since then as it has gone through high scale renovation. But, the growth of the hosts since then is also one to remember.

Even though team-mates like Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal have made it clear that they’re very much in the game and have it in them to beat the mighty Aussies with a clean sweep, captain Rahim did not want to sound too ambitious.

“We have to start from the scratch,” Rahim told reporters in the pre-match press conference on Saturday (August 26). “We are playing Test after some gap and playing at home nearly after a year. So I can surely tell you that it won’t be easy.”

What’s the pitch going to be like?

The Australian team prepared to counter the spin threat by practising on used pitches. However, even a day before the match, there still is no certainty about how the pitch at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium will behave, which also explains Rahim’s skepticism. There has been plenty of rain in Dhaka in the last few days and it has made it difficult for the curator to prepare a track that’ll suit the needs of the home team. Rahim admitted that he would prefer a wicket similar to the England series but with the current condition he is not too sure that’s possible.

“It’s a bit of concern,” he admitted. “Actually it is difficult to read the wicket in Mirpur because the weather and condition is different.

“The nature of the wicket changes rapidly here as sometimes there is no sunshine for the whole day. For me it is how well we can apply is what’s important. It was difficult for the curator because the conditions are such that you don’t know how much you want to water it as you are not sure whether the sun will come out tomorrow or not.”

“So the first innings is very important as you need to take the upper-hand during that period.” However, not much differs between him and his team-mates since they have the common aim of improving their track record against Australia as a team. “As we play after a long gap every series turns out to be historical with our success,” he said. “I hope it turns out that way,” he concluded.