Off to spoil Bangladesh’s party

Pakistan aim to maintain 100% record as hosts celebrate Independence day.

KARACHI: Pakistan and Bangladesh meet in the second and final Test in Dhaka from today with the visitors aiming to seal 2011 with a win, a year in which they have not lost a Test or a One-Day International (ODI) series.

Pakistan beat the hosts in the one-off Twenty20 before securing a series whitewash in the ODIs and also winning the first Test. With a sterner test against England awaiting Pakistan next month, a win to cap off the tour will boost the team’s morale, according to team coach Mohsin Khan.

“We’ve enjoyed a good year on the field,” Mohsin told The Express Tribune from Dhaka on the eve of the final Test. “We want to end it on a high note by winning this match as well. It holds a lot of importance for us and all the players are ready to give their all.”

“We had a successful series against Sri Lanka and the whitewash in Bangladesh will also hold importance before a key series coming ahead. England will be very difficult opponents and a win here will be a huge morale boost for us.”

‘Dhaka Test very important’ 

Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq, while terming the final Test important, hoped that the players will carry on the winning momentum from the last match into this one.

The tourists toyed with Bangladesh in the opening Test, racing to an innings and 184-run victory with more than a day to spare in Chittagong. The hosts were dismissed for 135 in the first-innings on the opening day before Pakistan batsmen dominated proceedings, racking up 594 for five with Younus Khan hitting an unbeaten double-ton and Mohammad Hafeez and Asad Shafiq scoring a hundred each.

“Confidence comes from performances,” said Misbah. “When you’re performing well as a team, confidence keeps building. We’ll play with the same intensity. We want to put everything right in batting, bowling and fielding.”

Meanwhile, Bangladesh need to put in improved batting and bowling performances if they want to avoid their eighth successive Test defeat against Pakistan since 2001.

The hosts dropped former captain and middle-order batsman Mohammad Ashraful, who scored one and zero in the first Test, and named fast-bowler Shafiul Islam in place of injured Rubel Hossain.

“Our main target is to put in an improved batting performance and we’re planning to bat session by session,” said Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim. “If we can post a good total, our bowlers will have better opportunity to defend it. Our batting should have been better in the first Test and I hope our batsmen would learn from the mistakes.” With additional input from afp

Misbahul Haq

“The confidence comes from performances. When you are performing as a team and performing well, the confidence keeps building. This is really helping us as a team. We will play with the same intensity.”

Mushfiqur Rahim

“Our main target is to put in an improved batting performance and we’re planning to bat session by session. If we can put up a good total then our bowlers will have better opportunity to defend it.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2011.