Tiger face South Africa in first Test match today
It will be an acid for test for Tigers as they face South Africa in the first Test match today (Thursday ) in Potchefstroom at Senwes Park.
The wicket will be full of life with lots of bounce and speed and it will be important moment for Tigers batsmen to rose on the occasion show their true mettle.
Bangladesh in home and abroad in Test arena has been playing a much better brand of crickets with renewed energy and guts. Tigers have beaten England, Australia Sri Lanka and played reasonably well against New Zealand at their den and also sub continent giant India.
Bangladesh has started to show eye catching performances regularly at home since 2013 - and regularly have to play under the pressure of being expected to win at home these days - their away record continues to be substandard. They have lost 85% of all Tests abroad and in South Africa; all four losses have been innings-defeats.
South Africa is a country where subcontinent teams have struggled regularly. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have totaled just five wins in South Africa and there hasn't been one such victory since 2011. So, while the determination levels will be high, they should not feel overly undone by supposedly unfavorable results
Bangladesh's senior players came out with comments recently that doing well in South Africa are their major priority. Batsmen like Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal take a lot of pride in scoring runs away from home and their approach will be a perfect example for the other young guns like Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar and Mominul Haque.
Bangladesh's pace attack too will be eagerly waiting to bowl on a lively environment for pacers and the current bunch of Tigers would certainly relished bowling on pitches far more sporting then at home.
At the individual level, too, there are plenty of players who have a lot to prove and play for. Apart from Tamim and Mushfiqur, the rest of the batting line-up isn't settled. Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes have their own battle after doing poorly against Australia.
Mahmudullah has a chance to prove his Test worth after being axed during the Australia series. Among the younger lot, Mominul has to score runs to disprove doubters in the team management while Sabbir Rahman also doesn't have a fixed spot in the batting line-up.
Without Shakib, a lot of pressure will also be on spinners Mehidy Hasan and Taijul Islam to provide breakthroughs, while Tiger pacers will have to bowl in tandem as they are expected to throw the challenge to star studded Proteas batting line-up to take early initiatives in the first Test.
For South Africa Aiden Markram is all set to open the batting with Dean Elgar for the first Test as a reward for his outstanding domestic performances. His last four domestic scores read 119, 87,134, 74. With Amla, De Kock, Du Plessis, Bavuma/de Bruyn to follow, the Proteas have a solid batting lineup.
Injuries to Morris and Philander mean that South Africa may not have their best bowling attack on show against Bangladesh, but they still have some excellent options to contend with. Morkel, Rabada, Parnell, and Olivier are all options in the pace department, and Phehlukwayo and Maharaj are the two spinners in the squad.
South Africa Squad: Hashim Amla, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis (c), Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Duanne Olivier
Bangladesh Squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (c & wk), Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Imrul Kayes, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Mominul Haque, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Subashis Roy, Meheidy Hasan
Source: BSS
