Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain has made clear that his team must leave behind the recently concluded series against Australia and concentrate fully on the one-off Test against Afghanistan scheduled to begin on October 9 in Abu Dhabi. The two-match series in Australia ended in a 1-1 tie, with Bangladesh winning the first Test at Darwin by 9 wickets and Australia claiming the second Test at Mackay by innings and 51 runs. Despite the positive result in the opening match, Hossain believes the focus must now shift entirely to the new challenge ahead.
Hossain addressed the media ahead of the Afghanistan Test, emphasising the need to move forward from the Australian campaign and prepare for different conditions and opposition in the UAE.
“I think as you mentioned we had a good series against Australia, but I believe that is past,” Hossain said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“These are new conditions against a new opponent and so we have to plan accordingly. The conditions here obviously are different but some of the players came a bit earlier and played one practice match so that will help to adjust. I think the preparation has been good. The conditions are a little hot, that will be the case. But as professional players, we don’t want to see it as an excuse at all. I think the players are not thinking too much about these things either,” he added.
Personal fitness and wicket assessment
Hossain also provided an update on his personal fitness after recovering from illness during the Australia tour. He confirmed that he had resumed full training and felt ready to lead the team in Abu Dhabi.
“And personally my recovery has been good, Alhamdulillah. I am healthy now. I have practised for the last two days, I am feeling good,” Hossain said.
Hossain inspected the Abu Dhabi wicket and offered his assessment of the surface ahead of the Test. He expressed optimism about the pitch conditions for batting and the quality of cricket expected.
“I had a chance to see the wicket yesterday, I’ll have another look today. It looked good, maybe a little slow. But I think it will be good for batting. So I hope it will be a very good Test match,” Hossain said.
Bangladesh’s Test cricket progress and future improvement
Bangladesh has made significant strides in Test cricket over the past two years, and Hossain stressed the importance of maintaining consistency while continuing to improve across all aspects of the format.
“I think during the last couple of years we’ve been playing some good cricket, especially in this format and that’s what we wanted as a Test team,” Hossain said.
“We have to be consistent and as I mentioned we played some good cricket, but still we need to improve a lot of things,” he added.
Hossain acknowledged the challenge of maintaining motivation for Test cricket in an era dominated by shorter formats. He reflected on the enduring appeal of the longest format for professional cricketers and the importance of Test cricket in their careers.
“Nowadays it’s hard (to keep motivation to play Test cricket in a world surrounded by shorter format games) but we can’t do anything with that. But as a professional cricketer and when we were growing up we all wanted to play Test cricket. So if you ask most of the cricketers, they all will say to you that we all wanted to play Test cricket. So Test cricket is always very special for a player,” Hossain said.
