Tigers’ maiden mishap

Bangladesh, on Tuesday, will play their first-ever Test against Ireland, meaning this would be the 11th opponent they face in the red-ball format.

In that one-off Test, Bangladesh will look to change an unwanted record that they have. The Tigers have to date played 10 nations in the format, and have lost the tie every time they faced a team for the first time.

They lost their first-ever Test to India by nine wickets, followed by the rest. From that point, their next seven first defeats were by an innings margin until they were beaten by England in 2003 by seven wickets.

However, Bangladesh’s most harrowing defeat in their maiden tie against a team came in 2019, when they lost to Afghanistan by 224 runs at home.

In a rain-affected match at Chattogram, the Tigers had to bat out 18.3 overs on the final day with four wickets in hand to close out a draw. They could only last 15.1 overs to hand Afghanistan a famous win, and Bangladesh a disastrous defeat.

With their mission to break that duck, Bangladesh started training on Sunday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.

The home ground for the Tigers have not been ominous for them in recent times as they have lost four matches on the trot at this ground, with the last win coming against Zimbabwe in 2020.

The latest Test was against India, where Bangladesh came close to sealing their first-ever win in the format against their neighbours but eventually fell short as the visitors claimed a narrow three-wicket win.

There will definitely be changes to the XI from that Test as opener Zakir Hasan is out injured and Tamim Iqbal is back. Nurul Hasan Sohan is also not in the squad, meaning the Tigers are likely to bring in Shadman Islam to open alongside Tamim, with Najmul Hossain Shanto returning to number three.

The two-pacer attack might also see a change as Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury is likely to replace Syed Khaled Ahmed.

Considering the chink in Ireland’s armour, batting spin, Bangladesh are likely to field their three-pronged spin attack of skipper Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Taijul Islam.

In that shocking defeat to Afghanistan, Bangladesh had prepared a spin-friendly pitch that backfired. Against the Irish, the plan is likely to stay the same but the Tigers will definitely hope for a different result.