Tigers seek consistency

Have a glance at Bangladesh's records in the last two Test series and you will find them refreshingly entertaining. Go ahead, compare those Tests to their corresponding ODIs and you will still feel that the Tigers had performed much better in the longer version as opposed to their favourite format.

They had failed to go for the kill on a number of occasions against England in the ODIs and displayed that laidback attitude against New Zealand as well. As a result, they were outclassed by both opponents.

In the Tests though, they managed to put in unique performances and surpass boundaries that they had not before. They beat England in Dhaka and then displayed remarkable patience to make the New Zealand bowlers struggle fore more than 150 overs in Wellington.

Yes, they did end up losing both Tests against New Zealand. However, it will not be an overstatement to say that the popular notion that Bangladesh is a team that sides should be concerned about only in the limited-overs format seems to be gradually changing.

And that is an aspect that Bangladesh Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim wants to continue working on.  

It is a big occasion for Mushfiqur and Bangladesh. This is the first time in 16 years as a Test nation that Bangladesh are playing a Test in India and it is often easy for cricketers to get overly excited. Mushfiqur, on the other hand, talked about sticking to the basics and did not want to get carried away.

“If you play consistently in Tests, all the questions we are often asked will be answered. We are working on that. If you play one good Test and then one bad, you have nothing you can talk about.

“Our focus is to play consistent cricket. We can take a lot of positives from our last two Tests and hopefully we can continue our form,” said Mushfiqur.

“To me it does not matter whether you play a one-match Test series or a five-match series. You have to be switched on in each and every session. This is a great opportunity for us, and if we do well in each of the sessions, the result will come our way.

“We have a lot to learn and playing against India will help us. The boys are very excited playing against the number one team. Hopefully we can show some character and match the Indian players,” he added.