Keeping complacency at bay biggest challenge for Tigers

Bangladesh seemingly caught Pakistan off guard last week in the first Test with their brilliant all-round showing to register their maiden Test win over the Asian giants and now stand with a chance to clinch their first-ever Test series win against the hosts.

When the Tigers step into the field today in Rawalpindi for the series-deciding second Test, they will undoubtedly come across a wounded Pakistan team which will be out to prove a point.

But before worrying about the opposition, the team will have to fight the feeling of complacency that could creep into their psyche after the history-making win in the opening Test and rob them off the chance to make further history, something that has happened in Test series against Australia and New Zealand.

Bangladesh don't possess a healthy record in the longest-format despite being in the scene since 2000. They have won only eight Test series and drawn 10 out of the 73 they have competed in before the ongoing series against Pakistan.

Bangladesh have won the first match of a series involving two or more Tests only seven times and although they managed to win four of those, two each against Zimbabwe and the West Indies, they have finish at the losing end in the other three occasions, once against Australia and twice against New Zealand.

In 2017, Bangladesh created history when they beat Australia for the first time in a Test by 20 runs in a thrilling contest in a tailor-made wicket at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur but they ended the series on a losing note in Chattogram, conceding a seven-wicket defeat.

Against New Zealand, Bangladesh went 1-0 up in Mount Maunganui in 2022 and in Sylhet in 2023, but lost the following Tests in Christchurch and Mirpur respectively.

After squandering three golden opportunities to seal a Test series win against a top side, Bangladesh once against find themselves in a position of strength heading into the final Test, with a chance to make history.

To do so, the Tigers have to guard themselves from complacency, handle the pressure of expectations while remaining on the offense.

"We always go with an offensive strategy, of course," Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha told reporters during a press conference yesterday.

"We focus on our strengths and limitations. Then on top of that, you look at the pitch and the overcast condition as well. So, we take all these into account when we think about strategy," he added.

In the opening Test, Bangladesh posted 565 in the first innings after the hosts declared on 448-6. Openers Shadman Islam and Zakir Hassan showed the way with a cautious but effective partnership that allowed the tourists to go into the third day with all 10 wickets intact.

Similarly, when the team needed the bowlers to raise their hands, they did it quite brilliantly, more so during the final day of the game when they bowled out Pakistan inside 56 overs in the second innings to set up a 30-run target, which the openers chased down without a hitch, securing the team's biggest ever win in Tests in terms of wickets in hand.

"I think the important thing is you have a partnership early on like the 12 overs our openers batted [on Day 2]. It gave us a lot of confidence and control of the game on the third day morning. Then Mominul [Haque] and Shadman [Islam] put up 90 odd and then Mushfiqur [Rahim], Liton [Das] and [Mehedi Hasan] Miraz capitalised on that platform," Hathurusingha recounted the first Test win.

"We talked about spending time in the middle and getting their fast bowlers to come and bowl in the second, third spells. So, I think that mindset changed and the approach was different, our game plan was slightly different because of the condition. I think that helped a lot to put up a good show with the bat," Hathurusingha concluded.