Taskin confident to win first Test

South Africa has historically remained the toughest of places for away teams due to the pace and seam-friendly conditions that the hosts exploit to great effect and Bangladesh’s track record reflect that, with the Tigers having lost all six of their Tests in South Africa in the past.

However, the scenario appears to be quite different ahead of the first of the two-match Test series starting in Dubran from tomorrow. A historic Test win at Mount Maunganui against New Zealand earlier this year and a maiden ODI series victory against South Africa has provided the Tigers with extra confidence. "We definitely have the confidence that we can win matches and we will play to win. We don't have control over the result but our intensity will reflect our desire to win," a confident Taskin Ahmed said on Tuesday. The Bangladesh pace attack will once again have to take responsibility in the upcoming Test series, where apart from Taskin, Mount Maunganui hero Ebadot Hossain and Shoriful Islam are expected to play crucial roles in the pace-bowling unit. "To be honest, all the fast bowlers have been working hard over the past two years or so and it's going well for us. But we still need to improve a lot. We want all our bowlers to become world class and we have that ability as well. We are bonding and our coaching staff is also helping us," Taskin added. Meanwhile, Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo was wary of the threat from the hosts but added that the Test squad's 10-day conditioning camp in Cape Town prior to the series had helped them a lot in adapting to the surface.

"We had great preparation in Cape Town, where we trained on similar wickets [to what we expect in the Test] and the team benefited from that. Although the wicket here will be bouncy, there won't be too much pace," Domingo said. Dean Elgar's hosts will be without four of their top pacers as the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen will miss the Test series in order to take part in the Indian Premier League. It will be crucial for both teams to secure valuable points in the World Test Championship and the hosts will be under pressure to secure the maximum points from the home series before travelling to England later this year. "They still have depth in the side because they have got some young players, especially in the pace battery. They [South Africa] will be under some pressure as those players will be looking to secure a place in the team. That is an added advantage for us but they will still represent South Africa which means they will pick the best players to face us," Domingo added. After the maiden series win in ODIs against South Africa, the question was asked whether the Tigers were also hoping to seal another historic win in the Test series. Domingo replied: "I didn't create history, the boys did it. South Africa are very good at home and it will be a tough series for us, but we are here to compete."