New expectations exist for Bangladesh

The moment to saviour at Chittagong: Enamul Haque takes the last Zimbabwe wicket and Bangladesh have won their first Test match © AFP

A win can change a team's perspective and inspire them to reach for heights that seemed very unlikely not long ago. And ever since Mohammad Ashraful dared to challenge the previously "unplayable" Indian bowlers on a third day at Chittagong, and made his team-mates understand that the opponents, despite their reputation, are still just cricketers, there has been a makeover in Bangladesh's body-language and approach.

The new-found dash was evident when they stunned India in the second one-dayer of he recent series at Dhaka and more proud during the first Test against Zimbabwe where the Tigers gave a polished display to win by 226 runs, a victory margin which fully justified their tag as pre-series favourites. Although there is a celebration hangover for the final Test at Dhaka, the players are eyeing a new chapter in Bangladesh's cricket.

"The first Test is in the past now. Another piece of history beckons - if we don't lose here we win a series for the first time. But we will go out for a victory," promised Bangladesh's captain Habibul Bashar. "It will not be easy and we have to be prepared to work really hard. Our job is only half-finished. Zimbabwe will come hard at us and they have some pretty good batsmen. They played very well in Chittagong, and some of the performances probably did not get noticed because of our domination."

The Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore, more relaxed now that the weight of expectation for a Test win has finally lifted, was trying to get familiar with a new kind of burden. "This is the first time the complacency might refer to us," he explained, "unlike in other games when the bigger teams were guarding against it. We have to be careful against these sorts of things and continue our gradual progress. It's a different pressure. Now we can't lose the series. That's one good thing. But the pressure is to maintain the form and finish it off on a high note."

Zimbabwe's batting resistance took Bangladesh by surprise at Chittagong, and the opening bowler Mashrafe Mortaza warned that in two years' time, they could be a real handful. But Zimbabwe's bowling failed to make an impression. "Although I could not make runs, it was still the weakest bowling I have faced in my Test career," said Ashraful. "I did not make much of a contribution and that was disappointing from a personal point of view."

Mohammad Rafique is fit to play at Dhaka © AFP

Bangladesh have stuck with the side that won in the first Test, and Mohammad Rafique himself quelled the last-minute concerns regarding his minor hamstring injury: "I'm ok, although the physio has told me to avoid sprinting too much." Tapash Baisya suffered bruises on his right palm at Chittagong, but an X-ray on Wednesday revealed nothing serious.

While the Bangladeshis were enjoying a day-off on Tuesday, Zimbabwe's coach Phil Simmons had training scheduled for them at the Bangabandhu National Stadium which had to be postponed because of a sudden bout of rain. And so they had extensive practice sessions on Wednesday and Thursday to make up time.

"I think experience made the difference between the two teams in the first Test," said Simmons but Zimbabwe's captain Tatenda Taibu did not quite agree: "Maybe the Bangladeshis have more experience but that is not an excuse for the loss. I think we only played well in bits and pieces. We have to gel together. I would like to see a few more runs from the top order. The spinners did not come to the party in Chittagong, but the seamers bowled tightly and if they bowl like that here on another flat track, they will create opportunities. And if we can take the catches, I think we will win."

It is a must-win situation for Zimbabwe who were giving nothing away and delayed naming their team until late on the day before the match. They were, however, boosted by the availability of Tinashe Panyangara, their most promising fast bowler, and the opening batsman Dion Ebrahim. Panyangara was sidelined with an injury in the first Test while Ebrahim, the only batsman in the squad with over 1000 runs in Tests , was serving a suspension for making disparaging comments about Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling action in May last year.

As ever, the pitch prompted a few questions after the one at Chittagong had stayed firm even on the last day. "Ideally I would like to see turn from day three onwards but we can't predict anything, can we?" said Bashar. Taibu agreed: "I have not come to Bangladesh expecting the pitches to be green. This is just another flat wicket."

Bangladesh (probable) 1 Javed Omar, 2 Nafis Iqbal, 3 Habibul Bashar (capt), 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Rajin Saleh, 6 Aftab Ahmed, 7 Khaled Mashud (wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Tapash Baisya, 11 Enamul Haque jnr.

Zimbabwe (probable) 1 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 2 Dion Ebrahim, 3 Barney Rogers, 4 Hamilton Masakadza, 5 Graeme Cremer, 6 Brendan Taylor, 7 Tatenda Taibu (capt, wk), 8 Elton Chigumbura, 9 Tinashe Panyangara, 10 Douglas Hondo, 11 Chris Mpofu.