No pressure to win keeps Tigers motivated

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INDORE, Nov 13, 2019 (BSS) – Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque said Bangladesh would play the first Test, starting tomorrow at Holkar Stadium in Indore, with uncluttered mind, as no one expects them to win the match against the mighty India.

According to Mominul, who appointed as the captain for this series, following Shakib Al Hasan’s ban, playing in India itself a great motivation for them and at the same time, no pressure of victory would further help them to enjoy the game.

“When there is expectation of victory, it creates a lot of pressure. I believe we can now enjoy the game, as there is no one who is expecting a victory against India,” Mominul said here on Wednesday.

But that doesn’t mean that the team won’t go hard for victory, Mominul added.

“It doesn’t mean that we won’t go hard for victory. What I said is that we would play a pressure-less cricket and we would enjoy our game. Definitely when we get down the field, our prime target is to win the Test.”

India had recently whitewashed South Africa in three-match Test series, with winning last two matches by an innings margin. The first Test was also one-sided and India could impose follow-on if they want and such was their bowlers’ impact in that series.

Compared to South Africa’s 25 Indian wickets in three Tests, Indian bowlers grabbed all 60 available wickets.

Indian batsmen also have been on a roll, consistently making 500 plus scores at least at home.

Mominul is aware of those facts but he was reluctant to give it thought, saying that all that he wants is to enjoy the cricket here.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to play in India. The players have taken adequate preparations since they are excited to play here. I know how formidable team they are. They have a strong batting line up, an excellent bowling line up but we have to do our job. We will play tough cricket and try to make it hard for India,” he remarked.

Bangladesh however would get down the first Test straight without any practice match, while for the second Test, which will be played under lights with pink ball, is still a mystery for them. Bangladesh had never played in pink ball.

But Mominul is not worried by the lack of practice match as he said all of the players meantime played some sort of longer version cricket.

“The eight players who joined the Test team were playing National Cricket League (NCL). In the last five months, I had played at least 10 first class matches. The likes of Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad also played NCL before coming to India. So I think we have adequate preparation,” he concluded.