Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons categorically said that his side is confident to push Sri Lanka hard in the second and final Test, starting tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground in Colombo.
His confidence stemmed from Bangladesh’s performance in the Galle Test, where the visitors created a genuine chance to win the game.
"There's a lot of confidence from the way we played (in the first Test),” Simmons told the reporters in Colombo today. “Often, we're a bit slow to start in the first Test of a series, but this time, we hit the ground running. That gives us a lot of belief going into the second Test,” he added.
In the recent past, Bangladesh showed their vulnerability in the opening game of the series—they lost a Test in West Indies before winning the second one to draw the series on the Caribbean Island in November 2024. A similar thing happened against Zimbabwe too in their own backyard. After losing the first Test to the African nation, Bangladesh roared back with a victory to salvage a draw in the series.
But the Galle Test ended in a draw amid the domination of Bangladesh. Many believe Bangladesh still could have won the game had they declared it earlier.
Citing the outcome of the Galle Test as ‘solid result’, Simmons said the sudden rain on Day 5 disrupted their plans to the timing of the declaration of the innings.
“Before the rain came, we were planning our approach. But the wicket was still good—it wasn’t turning much,” he explained. “The rough was there, but they only had two left-handers. When the rain took away several overs, we had to adjust our plans accordingly.”
''The morale has been excellent from the start. The guys did their work in Dhaka so that we could hit the ground running here. The draw in Galle was a solid result, and we've recovered well in the three days since. Spirits are high.”
Simmons expected that his charges would come hard against Sri Lanka in Colombo Test too like they did in the Galle.
"It looks like a good wicket so far. I haven't seen it today, but from what we saw yesterday, it looked decent,” he said, adding that still there are rooms for improvement if they want to win the Test.
“Tomorrow, we'll come in and look to play as hard as we did in Galle. There are a few little things we want to improve on, and it's important that we either maintain or elevate the level we showed in the first Test.”
He noted that the three-day break charged up the players further as they are ready to embrace the challenge.
"The players are doing well. Playing good cricket lifts the mood, and we've had a decent break between Tests. They're mentally strong and physically ready. We're up for the challenge,” he remarked.
With Mehidy Hasan Miraz back in the side after recovering from the illness, Simmons admitted that they are in a sweet problem in selecting the side for the second Test.
Off-spinner Nayeem Hasan indeed made the decision tougher by taking a five-wicket haul in the first innings that gave Bangladesh a slim but crucial 10-run lead over Sri Lanka.
"That decision will be made later today, depending on what we see in the pitch. We've just arrived at the ground, so we need to assess the conditions first before deciding on team balance-whether we go with three seamers or three spinners," Simmons said.
"That's the hard part. Nayeem had a wonderful game in Galle, so leaving him out would be tough. But everyone understands that selection depends on conditions and what's best for the team. We always try to ensure everyone is on the same page when these decisions are made,” he said.
Source: BSS
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