After defeating Bangladesh in the ODI series, England defeated the Tigers in a thrilling first Test match in Chittagong. Now, England will hope to deliver once again in the second Test match, which is scheduled to take shape in Mirpur from Friday.
With the first Test victory, England are in a comfortable situation in the two-match contest as they cannot lose the series. Bangladesh, on the other hand, will be desperate to shine in front of their home crowd, play consistent cricket and win the second Test to tie the series. But it is not going to be any easy for Bangladesh with England looking confident after their win.
Bangladesh were unfortunate to lose the first Test in a close encounter. They played well, but England snatched a 22-win run on the final day. Bangladesh might have been applauded for their fighting spirit, but opener Tamim Iqbal wants to take positive from the first Test and play better cricket to emerge victorious in the second Test.
"Everyone is saying that we played well but we have discussed as a team that we cannot be so happy with so little. We won't be able to improve if we have that mentality. I know we were competitive but we should have won the game. We can take positives from the first Test, like we competed for five days. It would have been a different story had we won the game," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Iqbal as saying.
"I know our Test record isn't great but we will try our best in every way to win the next game, which is a belief that is held by every cricketer who plays for Bangladesh. We will try to do our job properly from the first to last ball."
Bangladesh batsmen, after getting starts, need to concentrate on building to that score, and not give wickets away. Their bowlers including Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan Miraz and others need to shoulder responsibility, and take wickets like they did in the first Test. Bangladesh have to play brilliant all-round cricket to defeat England in the second Test.
England, who are set to tour India, after the Test series, are already thinking about the tough tour, and will accordingly make changes for the second Test. Captain Alastair Cook will make some changes in their bowling line-up.
"It's certainly more about rotation. In an ideal world we don't want to get to India with people having not played much cricket. There are some fine players who didn't make this team and, with how hot it is and energy levels, to not be playing all seven Test matches will freshen things up. It's certainly more on the bowling side to start with," Cook said.
Irrespective of the changes England make for the Mirpur Test, their objective remains the same -- defeat the home team in the second match of the series.
Cook, on the other hand, will hope to be amongst the runs as he failed in both the innings during the first Test. The left-hander needs to stay longer at the crease and provide a solid start to the England team. When Cook spends long time at the batting crease, he scores huge tons, helping England pile massive runs on the board, and his team mates will hope for the same in the second Test. Besides Cook, batsmen like Joe Root, Ben Duckett will look to score runs in Mirpur.
One thing is for sure that the England batsmen will once again be tested in the slow pitches in Mirpur, which will help them further prepare for India series.
Where to Watch Live
Bangladesh vs England 1st Test match is set to begin at 10 am local time (9:30 am IST, 5 am BST, 12 am ET). TV and live streaming information is below.
India: TV: Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD2. Live Streaming: Hotstar
Bangladesh: TV:GTV
UK: TV: Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports HD2. Live Streaming: Sky Go
USA and Canada: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Online
