“It is a challenge to lose so much experience from any team, especially for Bangladesh,” Hathurusinghe said. “Those guys have been part of the Bangladesh team in all formats for over 15 years. Some of them for ten years. It’s something we’re looking forward to though, seeing what the youngsters can do.
“I think it’s a time where we need to move on from some of the players who have played for a long time. They’re not going to be there forever. But this is happening for a lot of reasons. I think it’s exciting and it’s an opportunity for some of the young people make a name for themselves and then have a long career.
“I think every team takes pride in winning at home,” Hathurusinghe said. “We are no different. We look to win games on our own conditions. We will try to compete away from home. That is the plan. We are very aware of our limitations and strengths. That is why we are not going to predict big things. We are building a team now. It is simply a changing of the guard of sorts for Bangladesh cricket.
“The exciting thing is that there are good young players. The challenge is that these guys haven’t played enough cricket before that. So our planning has to be a little better going forward and make a larger group of players available to “Every position in bowling and batting. “Players who challenge others who are on the team make our team better.”
An immediate concern ahead of the first Test in Sylhet on Tuesday is that most Bangladesh players have not played red-ball cricket since June. Bangladesh players who returned from India after the World Cup in mid-November were part of the last first-class match of the NCL. Hathurusinghe believed that was the most they could do to accommodate the longer format in this short turnaround period.
“We use the NCL games for the guys who played in the World Cup as preparation,” he said. “Most of the batsmen took advantage of that opportunity. Most of the other players have been playing in the NCL. This is almost like a revamped Bangladesh team for various reasons. Not by design. I think we are prepared as we can and I think I am looking forward to this series of tests.”
Bangladesh will rely on the vast experience of their spin bowling duo Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who are the team’s second and third highest overall Test wicket-takers respectively. They have a combined total of 328 Test wickets, of which 228 are at home. In the last ten years, Taijul has also been Bangladesh’s most successful bowler in his country. The pair have also been head and shoulders above the rest of the Bangladesh bowling attack.
“There is experience in Taijul and Miraz. Taijul has 177 Test wickets. He will definitely be a leader of the attack and Miraz is playing since 2016 if I remember correctly,” Hathurusinghe said. “Then there are the youngsters (Hasan) Murad and Naeem Hassan. I think playing in these conditions and in this series, those guys, mainly the spinners, will play an important role.”
“We haven’t played that many test matches [in Sylhet]. One, I think, if my memory serves me right. That’s why it’s new for us too. We don’t know how the wicket will behave because we have no history here. We will simply be guided by what we see in front of us. “It’s a mystery at the moment.”
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo correspondent in Bangladesh. @isam84
