Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has acknowledged the formidable challenge of touring India for Test matches, emphasizing that the quality of the hosts makes the pitches less significant. Bangladesh has yet to secure a Test victory against India since their first encounter in Dhaka in 2000.
Shakib, who has been a pivotal figure in Bangladesh’s cricket success, expressed his admiration for India’s dominance in Test cricket. “If you look at other countries, every now and then they will lose one or two games. But in India, you hardly see them losing in Test matches. So yes, I would say you are right,” Shakib told reporters.
Despite Bangladesh’s recent Test series victory against Pakistan, Shakib drew a distinction between the two teams. “Pakistan is a relatively new team. In experience, I would say, if you look at the matches they played and if you look at our team and the matches we have played, we have got more experience than them. And in Test cricket I think that is a massive factor.”
However, Shakib acknowledged India’s exceptional status in the cricketing world. “They are the number one team in the World Championship at this moment. They are probably unbeatable at home. I saw a stat somewhere where for some 4000 days they have been unbeaten in India. So, that shows how good they are in India.”
Shakib emphasized that Bangladesh must perform exceptionally well to compete against India. “We have to play really well against them to be able to show the fight that we feel like we can put on,” he said.
Regarding the potential impact of a spin-friendly pitch in Kanpur, Shakib downplayed its significance. “When you play against a team like India, Australia, England, pitches don’t matter much because they will obviously have their weapon with which they can attack us.”
Shakib urged Bangladesh’s young batters to step up and score big. “If I talk about batting only, I think there has been an improvement. If you see from the first innings to the second innings. First innings we bowled out for about 150. In the second innings, we scored about 250. If we can score 350, somewhere there, I think that will be a huge improvement. And 350 to 400 on first innings will give us a lot of confidence and the dressing room will feel a lot more comfortable,” he said.
