'Tests ain't for faint-hearted'

Consider this for a scenario. The world's top Test side, after dramatically going down in the ODI series and then being bowled out for a paltry 248 in the first Test, now have just one more opportunity to prove their dominance over a side that are miles away from them in terms of rankings.

Going by Bangladesh's dismal record in Tests in Dhaka and South Africa's stupendous winning record in the longest version, the visitors are, no doubt, expected to walk away with the series if the rain gods remain kind.

However, the question that has been doing the rounds is whether the visitors are feeling the heat all of a sudden.

Has the must-win scenario put in a bit of extra pressure for the world's best Test team? Skipper Hashim Amla had a long answer to the question in Mirpur yesterday.

"Yeah it's a must-win game. Certainly we are here to win. We started well in the last Test match and kind of drifted away in the latter sessions. But with this Test match everybody is really excited.

"Hopefully if we get a full five days or as many days as we can play, it's about us trying to do as well as we can. Certainly we haven't used our full artillery as yet. It can be great in this Test if we can hit our strengths," said Amla.

"With the first Test rained off, it has put a lot of emphasis on this match. If we start well then we are hoping to be in a position to win," added the South Africa captain.

While South Africa's pacers didn't get much assistance in Chittagong, they could be a bit more effective in Mirpur, since the venue is known for providing a lot more bounce to the bowlers.

"If that's the case then traditionally it should assist our seamers. We have a good record in the subcontinent and even on wickets that don't bounce as much, we have managed to do quite well. So if the wicket does offer a little bit to our seamers, then that's great," hoped Amla.

"But if it doesn't… well playing Test cricket in the subcontinent is a lot of hard work, especially with the weather being very hot as we can see today.

"One of our players said earlier that if it were easy, then it would have been called easy cricket. Test cricket is not for the faint-hearted and certainly we are very keen on getting going. We have had no cricket for a week and a bit so everyone is very excited to get a move along," he added.