Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto is confident of repeating their success against Pakistan in the upcoming two-Test series against India. This series begins on September 19 with the first Test in Chennai and the second match will be played in Kanpur from September 27 onwards.
The Bangladesh team departed for India on Sunday afternoon. They are high on confidence as they defeated Pakistan for the first time in Test cricket and won the 2-Test series 2-0. Bangladesh became only the second team after England to white-wash Pakistan in Tests in Pakistan.
Najmul Hossain Shanto emphasized the team's aim to secure victories in both matches. This series is part of the 2023–2025 World Test Championship cycle. India now leads the table with 68.52 percentage points, while Bangladesh ranks fourth with 45.83 percentage points.
Bangladesh lost 2-0 during their most recent Test series in India in 2019.
"We will play to win both matches. The things that matter to win, the process matters… we will aim to do the work properly. Good results are possible if we do our job properly.
If you see the ranking, they are much ahead of us. We have been playing well lately. We have had a good series. We will aim to play well for five days. The result comes in the last session on the last day. If we play good cricket for five days, there is a chance which team will be a chance for either team to win in the last session," Shanto told The Daily Star at the airport.
Bangladesh Test skipper Najmul Hossain admitted that the upcoming India tour will be a difficult assignment. However, he hopes the team can capitalize on their 'increased confidence' following the historic 2-0 series victory against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.
“This will be a challenging series for us but after having a good series against Pakistan, there is an extra confidence in our team as well as among all the people of the country. It is important what plans need to be executed to play well for five days and there will be a chance to win but let’s not think too far ahead and focus on our strength and how we can play good cricket,” Najmul added.
According to Najmul, Bangladesh's pacers are less experienced than India's, but their spinners can do well. He emphasized the importance of playing as a team for their success.
“Our spin and pace are in a good frame. But still, if you compare the teams, I feel our pacers are relatively less experienced compared to them. Spin wise we are close to them but with experience wise, I would keep them ahead our spinners can bowl in any condition and I can say this much - that all the players, whether pacers, spinners, or batters, whoever will play, every player will give a hundred percent. The difference can be made when we play as a team,” the Bangladesh captain said.
Following the Test series, India will also play Bangladesh in three T20Is on October 6 (Gwalior), 9 (Delhi), and 12 (Hyderabad).
(ANI inputs)