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'I hope they are rusty'

NA1MUL Karim from Chittagong
Despite the loss of play on Day 1 of the scheduled three-day practice game, both Bangladesh and New Zealand had a good workout during their respective training sessions at the indoor facilities of the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) yesterday.
For New Zealand it was their first training session, albeit indoors, since their arrival and a majority of their players were working on getting back to their rhythms. In the case of Bangladesh, the rains denied them a possible session at the centre wicket of the ground, which would have proved very useful as the wickets at the ZACS have been relaid and are yet to be played on.
In spite of the missed opportunities, both teams seemed satisfied with the day's session and expressed confidence ahead of the first Test.
"We have all been playing one-day cricket in the Dhaka Premier League in the last one month, so this three-dayer would have helped switch to playing with the red ball to a certain extent. Unfortunately, there's nothing much we can do about it now,” said Mahmudullah Riyad, the captain of the BCB XL Both teams in the series have a disappointing track record in Tests. In the last seven Test series the Kiwis have won just one Test. The scenario is worse for the Tigers, who lost a Test to Zimbabwe in their last series, which dropped them to the bottom spot in the Test rankings.
The team management however is not concerned about the recent changes.
"We are not thinking about the ranking, but yes, we need results. We played well in the last few Tests but the results were not on our side, so we basically need wins," said Riyad.
With regards to his personal goals, the national vice-captain admitted the need for him to step up in the longer version of the game having scored only 34 runs in his last six Test innings.
“I did not bat well in the last few Test matches. I got out early and I could not get set early in the game. However, I scored two 50s in the
Dhaka Premier League and I am feeling positive, so hopefully things will go well," said Riyad.
The Kiwis on the other hand, are aiming to get used to the conditions as soon as possible. The newly laid wicket at the ZACS is the other issue that New Zealand's team management has been reportedly discussing. "We have an idea of what to expect. But we will go in with an open mind. If it is different from that, we will be prepared. We are assuming the wicket to be low and slow, and it will spin. But we just have to wait and see," opener Peter Fulton said.
When asked if there was any pressure to perform due to the shocking four-nil series defeat against the hosts in 2010, Fulton said, "Bangladesh are a strong team here. We have competed against some good teams in the last six months, particularly England. That gives us the confidence."
Confident or not, the visitors are definitely keen on erasing memories of that series defeat with a good performance here; as Fulton's statement, "I hope they're rusty. I know they are going to be strong,” in reply to a ques-tion regarding the fact that Bangladesh were playing Test cricket after five months, perhaps best describes.