Tigers feel intensity of India challenge

Bangladesh spent a relatively relaxed day without any practice sessions in Chennai yesterday, which would have been the fifth day of the first Test had it not finished inside four days at MA Chidambaram Stadium. However, the baptism of fire from the India challenge was felt after a 280-run loss at Chepauk.

Although Bangladesh dominated most of the proceedings in their series win at Pakistan, India proved a different beast for the buoyant Tigers. Team sources informed that they are not daunted by the prospect of facing such a fascinating and skillful outfit as India. There is no mental barrier, at least according to what they are feeling within the team environment.

Some players and members of the management even took the opportunity, when time allowed, to roam around Chennai. Earlier in the morning, selector Hannan Sarkar attended a press meeting at the team hotel, accompanied by media manager Rabeed Imam. Hannan also discussed the gap in calibre.

"If you look at the bowling and batting departments of the two sides, you will see that they [India] are some way ahead. We expected a tough time, and they [India] did provide that.

"It was a good sporting wicket in Chennai, especially in the first two days. If we consider the batting, we failed to live up to the challenge. There was some recovery in the second innings, and some batters regained some confidence," he said.

The biggest difference was felt in the batting units of the two teams. While India had three centurions in two innings, only Najmul Hossain Shanto got close to three figures.

It was reported that a team meeting took place in the morning at the team hotel, with all players involved. Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and the coaching staff spoke to the batters in particular about the mistakes made and analysed what went wrong.

Bangladesh may also need to consider combinations and changes in the playing eleven, with ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan under observation after suffering a painful blow to his right hand in the second innings. He also had issues with his spinning finger, something that only surfaced after the match, Hannan clarified in his press meeting.

Shakib has been under observation since Sunday. The Tigers are set to depart for Kanpur along with the India team via chartered flight on Tuesday at 1:30 pm.

"These past two days, the physio has kept him under observation. When we get back to the ground [in Kanpur], we will get the physio's feedback," Hannan said. "Shakib is such a player that if he can't bowl, he could play as a batter. If he feels he can't bat or bowl, then it's a different scenario," he added, suggesting that changes in the combination would occur based on the physio's assessment.

With the bat, Shakib applied himself well in both innings despite being unable to score big. There is also the T20 series to come, so combination changes will be considered, keeping Shakib's injury troubles in mind.

As majority of teams use seven batters and four specialists, with the all-rounder being part of the seven batters, Mehedi Hasan Miraz is the all-rounder who could step in and bat earlier in Shakib's absence. This would mean that the other left-arm spinner, Taijul Islam, waiting in the wings for a match, could come into the playing eleven, depending on the conditions.

The bigger headache, as could be inferred from the team meeting discussion, is that all Test teams depend on the top order for runs, and thus Bangladesh need more from the top six in the second and final Test.