[Miraz]

BCB Media release

We need a good first innings: Ashraful

Friday, 01 January 2009

CHITTAGONG (TigerCricket.com): Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful and Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene look ahead toe second Test of the Grameenphone Series that start tomorrow at the Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium:

Mohammad Ashraful

On the team compositions and the wicket
It's (the wicket) very dry and devoid of grass. Very different from the one in Dhaka but almost similar to the track we played on against New Zealand here in October. It looks like a pitch where the spinners may play a role. We have retained the same 12 we had given before the first Test with Rajin (Salah) and Sajedul (Islam) out. There is a good chance that Enam (Haque Jr.) might come in. I think he deserves to play on this track. If he plays then it will be in place of a pace bowler and in that case Robin (Mahbubul Alam) will be left out.

Regarding Sri Lanka's mystery bowler Ajanta Mendis who might play in the second Test after missing the first with an injury
Some of us have played him in one-day internationals during the Asia Cup. But one-dayers and Test matches are different. Mushie (Mushfiqur Rahim) and Roqibul (Hassan) played him quite well. We have seen him bowling against India on television. We also have footages but it is important not to think of him or Muralitharan too much and just try to play ball by ball. He has done very well in recent times and has taken heaps of wickets but our focus will be on playing each ball on its merit because this is a Test match.

On Muttiah Muralitharan taking so many wickets against Bangladesh despite Ashraful's claim that the Bangladesh batters are reading him better
He is world class and takes wickets against every opposition. Still I think that we are reading him better but we have to show that over a long period of time. Too often we have only done that for short periods.

Expectations for the New Year and the second Test match
We start the New Year with a lot of confidence because of our second innings performance in the first Test in Dhaka. We are getting better as a team and the boys believe that and this year we will have plenty of opportunities to show our improvement. We will try to play well in this Test match.

What he means by 'playing well'
We need to bat four sessions at least in the first innings. If we do that then we'll have a decent score on the board. That's the pre-requisite for us getting a positive result in Test matches and a positive result can be a win also.

Mahela Jayawardene

Whether the second Test is a fresh beginning for his team after the hard fight in Dhaka
This is the start of another important year for us. Last year we beat India in a Test series, drew England and beat the West Indies in the West Indies for the first time in our history. This is a new year and we have a lot of cricket in front of us. Good to see Ajanta back. We'll make a decision on him after our practice session. The boys are very keen to start afresh.

On his 100th Test appearance tomorrow and the fact that he is 74 runs away from getting into the elite 8000-run club
A little bit maybe and I can't say that I'm not emotional. I'm not thinking about the personal milestone. It has been an honour to play for Sri lanka and I have said this before that I never expected to play 100 Test matches when I started off. I want to enjoy the day and the moment and I would love to perform and lead the team to victory in this match.

If he had spoken to Muralitharan, who also played his 100th Test in Chittagong, on the subject
Not really. As I have said before it will be just another five days of hard cricket for us and my focus is on that.

TEAMS
Bangladesh (12): Tamim Iqbal, Zunaed Siddique, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Ashraful, Roqibul Hassan, Mehrab Hossain Jr., Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (Wicketkeeper), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shahadat Hossain, Enamul Haque Jr., Mahbubul Alam

Sri Lanka (probable): Michael Vandort, Malinda Warnapura, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (Captain), Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dishan, Prasanna Jayawardene (Wicketkeeper), Chaminda Vaas, Dammika Prasad, Muttiah Muraliatharan, Ajanta Mendis

Scheduled start of match: 9:30am Bangladesh Standard Time (0330 GMT)

Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)
Umpires: Umpires Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Nigel Llong (England)
TV umpire: Nadir Shah (Bangladesh)
Reserve umpire: Anisur Rahman (Bangladesh)
Weather forecast in Chittagong for the next 5 days

Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
low: 14 °C high: 26 °C	low: 13 °C high: 26 °C	low: 14 °C high: 26 °C	low: 14 °C high: 27 °C	Low: 15 °C high: 27 °C