Tigers look to show character on green top

When Bangladesh Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim was responding to what was the last question of a long press briefing from a New Zealand journalist at the Basin Reserve on Tuesday, he briefly got up from his chair to have a look at the wicket through the glass window.

“Where is the wicket? I can't see it; it's all green,” the Bangladesh captain said with a smile on his face. Ross Taylor, the New Zealand batsman who attended the briefing at the same place before Mushfiqur, looked through the window to have a clue of the green top as well.

“Which one, is it the second wicket?” Taylor quipped before taking questions with a satisfied smile on his face. He was actually looking for a personal milestone.

Bangladesh pace bowler Taskin Ahmed also had a media session at the same place and the subject of a green top was understandably inspiring for him. After all, this type of wicket, if it stays like this for another 48 hours before the first Test on Thursday morning (4:00am Bangladesh time), is a pace bowler's dream; especially for someone who has grown up and honed his skill on those greyish sub-continent wickets.

But Taskin's excitement has little to do with the meagre returns for the Tigers in these conditions and especially on the very ground which is infamous for being very windy.

Bangladesh have previously played two Test matches here and duly lost both games by an innings and some considerable runs. Akram Khan, now chairman of cricket operations of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, still recalls his experience of the 2001 Test, which he was a part of.

“We batted for just over a session in each innings and bowled for two days. It was tough for us at that time,” Akram recalled.

His nephew, Tamim Iqbal, made his Test debut when Bangladesh made their second trip to New Zealand in 2008. Tamim had a brilliant debut in Dunedin, scoring half-centuries in both innings in a match Bangladesh lost by nine wickets. But the left-hander could not do that well in Wellington in the second Test and Bangladesh suffered yet another heavy innings defeat.

A more mature Tamim returns for a second shot at the Basin Reserve and while reflecting on his first trip here he recalled how strong the wind was at that time.

“I was batting and suddenly the wind pushed me a couple of steps forward.”

Tamim suffered a thumb injury in the third T20I on Sunday, and although there was no fracture, it was still swollen when he faced a few throwdowns in the nets yesterday. He also faced a few deliveries from the bowlers and there was still some pain. The team management will know for sure if Bangladesh's most accomplished Test batsman will play the first Test today. His likely opening partner Imrul Kayes, who appeared to damage his knee after running into a boundary board during the same match, has been cleared for the match.

And as far as the record is concerned this is the most challenging venue for Bangladesh, who scored 132 and 135 in 2001, before making 143 and 113 in 2008.

Of course Bangladesh have become more mature now. And they will have almost the same batting line-up that performed very well on their last visit in 2010 for a one-off Test at Hamilton, where they took the game into the fifth day. Mahmudullah scored a brilliant 115 and Shakib Al Hasan hit 87 in a first-innings total of 408. Shakib then went on to score a brilliant 100 on the fifth day to give the Black Caps a bit of a fright.

But after a 6-0 defeat in the shorter formats, the biggest challenge for Bangladesh is for their batting to come to the party, especially their experienced top order which has failed to deliver both in the ODIs and T20Is.

Mushfiqur was right to say that Bangladesh's main challenge would be for the batsman to set the tone for the bowlers to fight.

“If we can put up enough runs on the board in both innings it will help our bowlers to defend. And it is very important for us to show that character,” said the skipper.