Courtesy: BCCI/X
Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh cricketer, spoke quite highly of the Indian Test team ahead of the second Test match at Kanpur this weekend, stating that they are “probably unbeatable at home.” The 37-year-old, who has announced his retirement from Test cricket with an expectation of playing his final match next month at home, remarked that any Test playing nation finds it tough to tour India, and the Bangladesh cricket team are no different in this regard.
Notably, in the first Test of the two-match series, Bangladesh suffered a massive 280-run defeat at the hands of the Indian cricket team at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Shakib Al Hasan got a couple of starts in the first Test with the bat in hand, but his bowling was quite below par, failing to pick up any of the Indian wickets across both the innings, while conceding runs at a high economy rate.
India are the number one team at the moment and are probably unbeatable at home: Shakib Al Hasan
While talking to reporters in Kanpur, Shakib Al Hasan remarked that Bangladesh needs to show the fight against a highly formidable Indian cricket team in the second Test. He was quoted as saying, as per Cricbuzz, “If I talk about India, they are the number one team at the moment and are probably unbeatable at home. They are doing well outside as well, but at home, they are unbeatable. Any country finds India difficult, and we are no different. Having said that, we have to play really well to show the fight we feel we can put up.”
The Bangladesh veteran also divulged into how Bangladesh performed in the first Test match at MA Chidambaram Stadium. He said, “I think in patches we played really well in Chennai, but finishing the match in three and a half days isn't ideal for us. We felt like we are a better team than that. Tomorrow we have another opportunity, and we need to show our potential in tomorrow's match.”
Shakib Al Hasan went on to talk about Bangladesh needing to put up a big first innings score in the Kanpur Test, to compete well against India. He remarked, “If I talk about batting only, there was improvement from the first innings to the second. In the first innings we were bowled out for 150, but in the second innings we scored around 250. In the next Test match, if we can score 350 or thereabouts, that will be a huge improvement. Scoring 350 to 400 in the first innings will give us a lot of confidence and boost our team.”
