Kolkata: Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque rued that his team didn’t even get a practice game to prepare before taking on the formidable India in the first-ever Day/Night (D/N) Test between the two teams starting Friday.
It was only two days before embarking on their tour to India that BCCI president Sourav Ganguly convinced the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to play a ‘Pink Ball Test’ and there was no provision for a warm-up game.
“We did not get any opportunity to play a practice match and at that moment (when it was decided) we could not do anything. The only way to prepare for us was by preparing mentally. But definitely, if you play any Test match with the pink ball, you have to play practice matches,” Mominul said on the eve of the Test here Thursday.
The current Bangladesh team have no pink ball experience even at the domestic level and they only had four sessions, including two in Indore, before their first ever D/N Test.
While a handful of Indians have played pink-ball game at the domestic level, Bangladesh’s only experience with the pink ball was a one-off first-class fixture back in 2013. Incidentally, none of the current team players played that match.
“It’s new for everyone. We had very good preparation we hope we can capitalise on that. We will look for the opportunities and we are excited to play the first ever pink ball Test for the country,” the skipper signed off.
PTI