No point in thinking too much about the wicket

Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque believes his team are well prepared ahead of the first Test against South Africa starting at Kingsmead on Thursday.

Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Mominul said: "South Africa are playing at home and that is always an advantage. However, we have been here for nearly three weeks and the boys have adjusted to conditions." Mominul and the other Test specialists had a training camp at former South African player and coach Gary Kirsten's academy in Cape Town, while the one-day side were pulling off an historic series win against South Africa. Bangladesh have lost all six Tests on three previous tours of South Africa and Kingsmead is an unknown factor for the current players, with Bangladesh having only once at the ground, when they lost to Canada in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Mominul said he was not sure how the pitch would play. "There's not too much point in thinking too much about the wicket. It could aid the pacers but still be good for batting. Spinners may come into play as the match progresses." Unlike on previous tours, Bangladesh will be looking to match South Africa with their fast bowlers. Ebadot Hossain was the man of the match when they won a Test in New Zealand in January, while Taskin Ahmed was the player of the ODI series against South Africa. "The pace bowlers have been doing very well in recent times," said Mominul. "They have a lot of confidence coming into this Test series and the whole team has confidence in them." South African left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who plays his domestic cricket at Kingsmead, said earlier he was not sure how the pitch would play, with more grass on the surface than usual. "I haven't seen Kingsmead with the colour of the grass like this," he said. 

"It's a relaid surface." But he said he expected it to be a "traditional" first-class pitch. With South Africa's first-choice fast bowlers playing in the Indian Premier League, Maharaj is by a distance the most experienced Test bowler in the squad. But he said he was confident that the replacement pace bowlers would be able to challenge the Bangladesh batsmen. Once again, Bangladesh's rising pace-bowling department is expected to play a major role in the upcoming Test series, especially on a seam-friendly Durban track. The forecast also suggests rain for the first four days, which will surely provide extra assistance. Taskin Ahmed has been in terrific touch, getting player of the series in the ODI series, while the hero of the Mount Maunganui Test victory, Ebadot Hossain, and left-arm seamer Shoriful Islam are expected to play vital roles. "It is important for fast bowlers to perform if a team wants to win Test matches abroad. If they can give early breakthroughs and bowl in the right areas, it becomes easy. A few of our pacers have played in the ODI series and had a good rest. I think our pacers are in a relaxed mood," Mominul added. However, a lot will depend on how the Bangladeshi batters deal with a rather inexperienced South African bowling line-up that will be without premier fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen.