Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim believes that the pitch at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah, where the hosts will take on India in the one-off Test match on Wednesday, is different from what they had expected and is not sure about how it would react after a couple of days.
"The wicket here is quite different. We have played first-class matches and some BCL one-day matches here. We have some idea of it. We don't usually see grass on Test wickets, but on ODIs and other formats," said Rahim in an interview to Espn Cricinfo.
"Whether the grass will hold for five days or how much it will impact on the play, it is new to me. Spinners will have advantage from the first day, and the batsmen are also likely to be at ease here," the Bangladesh skipper added.
A layer of cut grass on the pitch at Fatullah also surprised Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe. He could not figure as to how the pitch would turn out to be during the clash between India and Bangladesh.
"The pitch is hard to read because I have never seen a pitch like this before. We have to take the heat into account as well. The wicket is not going to be a fast bowler's paradise, that's what I can tell you. It is new for me. I don't know, may be for other people also. I am also waiting to see how it is going to play out," Hathurusinghe told Espn Cricinfo ahead of Bangladesh's clash against India.
"I have no idea to predict this wicket. For the first time we have no control over what type of wicket this will be. We will try to select the team that gives us best chance to take 20 wickets," added the coach.
Team India have not taken a look at the pitch until Monday, but going by the words of Rahim and Hathurusinghe, the pitch is likely to assist the spinners. More is the chance of India captain Virat Kohli to pick up five bowlers, which might include three spinners - Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin and Karn Sharma. The one-off Test match starts at 10am local time (9:30am IST) on Wednesday.
