Mirpur track once again in the spotlight

“We weren’t expecting such a spinning track, so definitely it was a bit unexpected.”

A member of the Bangladesh team management told The Daily Star on Sunday when asked about the wicket for the first ODI between Bangladesh and New Zealand which the hosts lost by 26 runs.

Ahead of the second ODI, even president of the ad-hoc committee, Tamim Iqbal, came to have a look at the surface in the evening on Sunday. The pitch has been at the centre of focus following Bangladesh’s surprise at the wicket being served in first ODI.

This time in the second ODI, the pitch worse a slightly greener look and looked harder than the one used in the first ODI. In the first ODI, deliveries held up and in the second innings there was sharp turn on offer for spinners, something the Bangladesh team management did not want.

New Zealand’s pace-bowling all-rounder Nathan Smith got quite a lot out of the wicket in the first ODI but interestingly, he felt the wicket was similar to the last ODI series Tigers played on against Pakistan.

“I'd be surprised [if there is chest-high bounce], yeah. But I think that wicket out there, looks similar to what those Pakistan wickets looked like from what I could see on the footage. So I'd say there might be a little bit more pace in it,” he said, adding that Bangladesh perhaps expected more pace in the surface in the first game.

Shoriful Islam was Bangladesh’s most successful bowler in the first ODI and when asked whether they got the surface they wanted, he had an interesting take.

“When we play in Mirpur, a lot of the times we are proven wrong. It acted a little differently to what we expected but hoping we will do better,” he said about adjusting to the surface.

Mirpur has always bamboozled hosts and visitors alike. The hot conditions further complicate assumptions since cracks open a lot more making conditions difficult to assess. What Bangladesh however has to do is adapt to whatever Mirpur throws their way on Monday.