Focus shifts to Sylhet
With the three-match ODI series done and dusted, all eyes will now turn to the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, where the first of the two-match Test series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will get underway on November 3.
Following their whitewash of Zimbabwe in the ODI series in Chattogram, the Tigers landed at the Sylhet MAG Osmani Airport yesterday afternoon.
Zimbabwe are set to arrive later on though as one practice match remains for them at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on October 29, which means that Bangladesh will get six days to practice ahead of the encounter.
Mominul Haque, Abu Jayed, local boy Khaled Ahmed, Taijul Islam, Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Liton Das arrived yesterday with head coach Steve Rhodes and bowling coach Courtney Walsh.
Captain Mahmudullah Riyad, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Mithun and Nazmul Islam will join the team today ahead of the Tigers' first practice session.
Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Ariful Haque are expected to rendezvous with the hosts on November 1 after playing the three-day practice match against Zimbabwe.
The Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, the only stadium in the country with a green gallery, is all set to host its first ever international Test Match and in doing so, it will become Bangladesh's eighth Test venue. Meanwhile, the stadium's inaugural ODI, between Bangladesh and West Indies, will take place on December 14.
So far, the venue has witnessed only seven T20Is, six of which were during the 2014 World T20 tournament while the other was a fixture between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in February this year.
To commemorate the momentous occasion, the BCB launched several campaigns to attract cricket fans to the stadium.
“We will be holding several countdown stands in different parts of the city along with advertisement in all local medias to get a notable crowd on this historical match of the venue,” said Qureshi .
The second and last Test of the series will be played in the capital's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on November 11.
