Bangladesh's Shadman Stands by Batters After Day One Setbacks Against Sri Lanka

Shadman Islam, the opening batter for Bangladesh, has voiced his support for the team's batting lineup following a lackluster showing on the first day of the second Test match against Sri Lanka.

Shadman top-scored for Bangladesh with 46 on a rain-hit opening day © AFP

Despite several Bangladesh batters managing to get a start, none were able to convert their innings into substantial scores. Poor shot selection contributed to Bangladesh's underwhelming performance as they concluded the rain-affected day.

Shadman himself scored a team-high 46. Other players, including Mominul Haque (21), Mushfiqur Rahim (35), Litton Kumar Das (34), and Mehidy Hasan (31), also reached double figures, appearing poised to capitalize after weathering the initial pressure. However, they ultimately faltered, losing their wickets at crucial moments.

"You cannot score runs without playing shots," Shadman stated in a press conference after the day's play. "We played shots in Galle as well, and those resulted in boundaries. Unfortunately, today might not have been our day."

He dismissed suggestions that the team was trying to score too quickly, saying, "Maybe some shots were wrong. It's part of cricket."

Shadman added, "I think the wicket was a little bit slow. There was no movement in the morning, but we threw our wickets away. Hopefully, we won't do that in the second innings."

He also suggested that the interruptions due to rain impacted their performance, disrupting the batters' momentum. "The batters need to get set again after a break. Maybe it played a role."

"No one wants to get out intentionally. Maybe it was a bad day for us," Shadman conceded.

The opener also defended the captain's decision to bat first, asserting that a total of around 270 to 280 runs would be a competitive score on the slow surface at the SSC.

"No, I haven't seen anything like that from which we can say that the decision was wrong [opting to bat first]," he stated. "The wicket was a bit slow. I hope 270-280 is a good score. If we can bowl well, we will make a comeback Insha'Allah."

"If we can bowl in good areas, then we can make a comeback as there's help on the wicket," he concluded.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's bowling coach, Thilina Kandamby, expressed surprise at the wicket's behavior at the SSC. He noted that the surface was uncharacteristically two-paced.

"It's quite an unusual wicket at the SSC. Normally, you get true bounce here, but today it was a bit two-paced. The pace and bounce weren't consistent, and the ball came off the surface slower than we expected," said Kandamby.

"The fast bowlers really showed character. They picked up key wickets and kept us in the game," he added.

Kandamby praised the Sri Lankan fast bowlers' fitness and workload management, adding that he expects Prabath, who is currently out of form, to recover soon.

"They (fast bowlers) focused heavily on fitness and bowling workloads, and the coaches have monitored them closely. That work is showing now," he said. "Prabath is slightly out of form, but we believe in his experience. I'm confident he'll bounce back."