Millions of Buddhists visited the shrines across the country on the day, which according to their belief, is a good day for prayers under the full moon and most of the Sri Lankan cricketers were no exception as they enjoyed the day, also a weekly holiday, with their families.

But there was no respite for the visiting Bangladesh cricketers, though they also greeted the locals by saying 'poya day', as they were trying hard to bounce back from the disappointing performance in the first Test. The Tigers had an intense net session at the academy compound adjacent to the R Premadasa Stadium.

For former captain Habibul Bashar and left-handed opener Shahriar Nafees, the second Test which begins on Tuesday at the P Sara Stadium, is more of a personal challenge than any other member of the Tigers squad.

His second innings 38 gave a small indication that Nafees was set to get back his rhythm but the batsman himself was not ready to think like that.

"I can't say I got back to form after scoring 15 and 38 runs in the first Test but I am happy that I could manage to do some of my basic batting in the second innings. I have to score big. Although I was dismissed by playing a bad shot, I am quite confident after the two innings," said the young opener after the training session.

Terming the Lankan bowling as the 'best attack' at the moment, Nafees has a different strategy about handling them, especially Muttiah Muralidaran, as he believes that only a defensive attitude is not the solution to be successful.

"To me, batting is all about scoring runs. We definitely should look to play safe cricket but that doesn't mean we always play defensively. I think the Sri Lankan bowling attack is the best in the world because every bowler is different from the other," explained Nafees.

"I had a plan in the second innings not to allow Murali to settle in his bowling like what I did against (the Australian great) Shane Warne in the Fatullah Test (in 2006). I played every shot that comes to me then. My personal opinion is that Murali takes wickets in the end no matter you defend against or attack him. I think it is important how much you score at the end of the day," he added.

Nafees pointed out that their second innings performance would serve as a benchmark for the side.

"I must say we learnt from mistakes but the problem is that we need more time to make it a habit. Our first innings batting performance (89) was an exception. I believe that the way we batted in the second innings was what can be the standard," he said adding that it is always good to think about the positive things.

But the right-handed Bashar believed that they have to discuss on the negative issues or else it would be impossible to improve their performances.

"I must say that our benchmark was the third day performance. I don't believe that we have to talk about only with the positive outcomes rather we have to focus on the negative issues," he observed.

Bashar came here with a mission to rediscover his form and to silence his critics but his first Test performance was disappointing as he returned to the hut with only 2 and 17.

"I know how important my performance is as a senior player. I think our top-order should play their best otherwise we can't survive against this bowling attack," he said.

"Believe me, I am not frustrated with the first Test performance. We have two more Test matches in our hand which I think is an advantage for us to show that we are not as bad as people are saying after the first Test," said a confident Bashar, the highest Test scorer for Bangladesh.

"I don't agree with those who say that we made no improvement in the five-day game. We pushed Australia and Sri Lanka at home but the 14-month break hampered our progress severely," he remarked.