At one point Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim refused to rule out the possibility of 1-0 series victory against the world's number one Test team, South Africa, while speaking at the pre-match press conference in Mirpur yesterday. But before that he made it clear where the challenge laid in the second and final Test, beginning at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today under the threat of rain.

The challenge is to play consistent cricket and finish the series on a high. It was not long ago that the Tigers had meekly surrendered to Pakistan in the second Test at Mirpur, after a 'win-like' draw in the first Test in Khulna. So the question remains, can Bangladesh carry on with the Chittagong Test's performance?

In the last few months, the Tigers have rewritten chapters in their history book one after another

and that's the reason Mushfiqur said, "This is a chance for us to change the record of our bad streak in second Tests."

To do that, the little man emphasised on the intensity in their performance throughout the five days and also reminded that they were on top in the drawn first Test at Chittagong, before the last two days were washed out due to inclement weather.

"It is obviously possible. To be honest, we are not that consistent in Tests. However, we are now playing really good cricket across all formats, so the confidence is there. We have to be mentally tough to secure a win. We know that this is their last game and they will give it their all. They will come hard at us. They are the number one side after all. But we also want to do well in this series."

"Our target is to play consistently over five days. This is an opportunity for us to play against the number one Test side. In the last Test, we dominated in almost every session. We proved that we have the capability. Hopefully we can finish well," he continued.

There is no need to say how strong South Africa are and Mushfiqur knows that very well, but the Bangladesh captain wanted his side to cash in on their recent form and write another chapter in their recent story of success in international cricket.

"This is obviously challenging. We have been playing well in one-dayers, but in Tests they [South Africa] are above us and very experienced. To play against them is challenging. But then I think that we have players who are performing well individually. We just have one aim and that is to do well consistently, I think most of our players are in good touch and if we can collectively perform I am sure this will be a good Test," said a confident skipper.

After the impressive performance in the first Test, the Tigers are under pressure to be consistent, but in recent times, especially in ODIs, they have shown that they have reached a position where they can handle pressure well. So everybody will look forward to seeing whether Mushfiqur's side can take the first Test's showing into the second and final match.

“We have to play with high intensity. We may be okay physically, but mentally it may be a bit of a challenge for us. Recently we have been able to handle that pressure. The way we came back against South Africa in the one-dayers was a good sign. We want to test our side and see where we are poised against such a team in this particular format."