Focus finally shifts to cricket

Cricketing activities took centre-stage for the first time in three days in Mirpur yesterday as both Bangladesh and South Africa national cricket teams completed intense training sessions ahead of the opening Test of the two-match series, scheduled to start on October 21.

After two drama-filled days where Shakib Al Hasan cancelling his return to the country to play his farewell Test and other related issues grabbed the headlines, focus finally shifted to cricket yesterday with both teams putting the finishing touch to their preparation for the Mirpur Test, which will be the first Test between the two sides in Bangladeshi soil since 2015.

Although Bangladesh's new head coach Phil Simmons conducted his first training session on Friday, he did not have the full squad at his disposal due to rainy weather. Yesterday, the 61-year-old finally got the opportunity to work with the full team with his full coaching set-up at the Sher-e Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Mushtaq Ahmed, who worked with the Tigers during the home series against Zimbabwe in May, in the ICC T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies and then in the Pakistan tour, was also present in Mirpur at yesterday's training session after rejoining the Bangladesh team as their spin bowling coach for the South Africa Tests.

The former Pakistan leg-spinner is not under a full-time contract with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and hence was not with them in the recent India tour due to some prior commitments.

"He [Mushtaq] is here for this [South Africa] series. This year, whenever he is available and does not have any prior commitments, he will work series by series with us. Right now, he is here, we'll see what happens in the next series," BCB's cricket operations in-charge Shahriar Nafees told The Daily Star yesterday.

Meanwhile, Simmons, who arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday, also attended his first official press conference as the Tigers' head coach after the practice session where he emphasised the need for his players to focus on cricket and cancel out all outside noise.

"That's a big part of our job over the next few days, to make sure the focus is on the cricket and not outside of cricket," Simmons told the reporters yesterday, adding that he was offered the job just a week and a half ago.

The West Indian also spoke about South Africa's poor Test record in the sub-continent in the last 10 years. Since beating Sri Lanka in the Galle Test back in 2014, the Proteas have been winless in the 14 Tests they have played in four sub-continental countries, losing 10 and drawing four rain-marred contests.

Simmons saw this as a very "good opportunity" for the hosts to seal a maiden Test series win over the Proteas but remained cautious of the resilience of their opponents.

"Bangladesh are usually very strong at home. So, it is a very good opportunity for us to win the Test series. South Africa has that [poor record in sub-continent] hanging over their head but they are a resilient team. They will work hard to change that."

Meanwhile, the Proteas are leaving no stone unturned to end their nine-match losing streak in Tests in sub-continent, said their star left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj.

"We know Bangladesh are really good competitors in their own conditions. But we also want to break the stereotype about not being able to win away from home especially in sub-continent conditions," said Maharaj, who will lead the Proteas spin-attack which includes off-spinner Dane Piedt and left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy along with some part-timers.