Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto hopes that the Tigers can overturn their dismal Test record against Pakistan as the first of the two-match Test series between the two nations starts in Rawalpindi today.聽
The match starts at 11:30am Bangladesh Standard time with T-Sports and GTV televising the game live.聽
Bangladesh have drawn one and lost 12 of the 13 Tests they鈥檝e played against Pakistan and seek a reversal in fortunes to help them get a push up on the World Test Championship, where they currently sit in the eighth position.
鈥楴o [pressure]. It鈥檚 record, [and] record can be changed,鈥� Shanto told reporters during the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
鈥業t鈥檚 not going to be easy, but as I said, we have a balanced side. We believe we can do some special things this time. Players are really excited to play here.
鈥業 feel we had a good series against New Zealand, but we didn鈥檛 play well against Sri Lanka. We have a good opportunity this time against Pakistan, and I hope we鈥檒l play good cricket here.鈥�
Shanto acknowledged his team鈥檚 recent poor show with the bat but said there were no concerted efforts to turn away from the basics in a bid to bring changes.
鈥榃e don鈥檛 want to do anything different (as a batting unit), as we all know our batting hasn鈥檛 been well in the recent past,鈥� he said.
鈥楤ut we鈥檝e had good preparation this time. Players tried to prepare well as much time as they got. Everyone has the belief that our batting unit will do well this time.
鈥楤esides, bowling is equally important to win a Test. I think we have a good chance as a team this time. Last couple of years we have had a good pace bowling unit. We have three-four quality spinners as well. So we have covered everything.鈥�
He was also confident that ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan would be at his best in the series after protests over the former lawmaker鈥檚 inclusion in the team.
Shakib, 37, was a member of the now dissolved Bangladesh parliament led by ex-premier Sheikh Hasina, who was forced to flee the country at the start of the month following mass protests.
鈥楬e has played this game for so long, so he knows his role and how to prepare himself. I am not thinking about his political career,鈥� said Shanto.
Asked if the political setback would affect Shakib鈥檚 performance, Shanto said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 think so because he is a professional cricketer; we all treat him as a cricketer, to be honest.鈥�
鈥業 hope he will do something special in this series,鈥� he added.
Shakib is Bangladesh鈥檚 key all-rounder with 4,505 runs in 67 Tests, and as a spinner, he got 237 wickets鈥攖he most of any Bangladesh bowler in Test cricket.
Bangladeshis in Dhaka protested over Shakib鈥檚 continued inclusion in the team, with former Bangladesh Cricket Board member Rafiqul Islam criticising him for staying silent as protesters died in clashes with security forces.
Shakib joined the squad in Pakistan last week after featuring in the Global T20 League in Canada, where Bangladeshis also chanted slogans against him.
The unrest in Dhaka stopped the team from assembling for practice sessions.
The tourists got some reprieve after the Pakistan Cricket Board invited them to arrive four days early to make up for their lack of preparations.
The Rawalpindi Test is under threat from bad weather, with rain predicted on all five days.
The second Test will be played in the same stadium from August 30.
