Shadman Islam Defends Bangladesh Batting Lineup After Day 1 Setbacks vs. Sri Lanka

Shadman Islam, the opening batsman for Bangladesh, has voiced his support for the team's batting lineup following a mediocre 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 batsmen making promising starts, none were able to convert them into substantial scores. Bangladesh concluded the rain-disrupted day with a series of unfortunate dismissals due to questionable shot selections.

Shadman Islam led the team with 46 runs. Other players, including Mominul Haque (21), Mushfiqur Rahim (35), Litton Kumar Das (34), and Mehidy Hasan (31), also began well. However, after weathering the initial challenges, they couldn't maintain their focus and ultimately surrendered their wickets.

"You can't score runs if you don't take risks," Shadman told reporters after the day's play. "We took risks in Galle as well, and those shots resulted in boundaries. But today, it just might not have been our day."

When asked about trying to increase the scoring rate, he responded, "It wasn't about that. Maybe some of the shots were poorly chosen. But that's just part of the game."

Shadman also commented on the pitch conditions: "I felt the wicket was a bit slow. There wasn't much movement early on, but we gave away our wickets. Hopefully, we can avoid doing that in the second innings."

He also pointed out that the interruptions caused by rain may have impacted their performance, as batsmen were forced to restart their innings and rebuild momentum after each delay.

"The batters need to get settled again after a break. Maybe it played a role," Shadman said. "No one wants to get out intentionally. Maybe it was a bad day for us."

Shadman defended the captain's choice to bat first, arguing that a total of around 270 to 280 runs would be competitive on the slow pitch at the SSC.

"I didn't see anything that would suggest the decision to bat first was wrong," he stated. "The wicket was a bit slow. I'm hoping that 270-280 will be a good score. If we bowl well, we can make a comeback, Insha'Allah."

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

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's bowling coach, Thilina Kandamby, admitted his surprise at the pitch's behavior at the SSC.

He mentioned that the SSC surface was behaving unlike anything he had seen in his 15 years as a player.

"It's a very strange wicket at the SSC. Normally, you get consistent bounce here, but today it was a bit inconsistent. The pace and bounce weren't consistent, and the ball came off the surface slower than we anticipated," Kandamby explained.

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

"They (fast bowlers) focused heavily on fitness and bowling workloads, and the coaches have monitored them closely. That work is showing now," he said adding that he is expecting out of form to come back good sooner than later.

"Prabath is slightly out of form, but we believe in his experience. I'm confident he'll bounce back," he said.