The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful Saturday ruled out the possibility of losing the two-match test series, as there is still four more days to go in the 2nd test and anything may happen during the period.

"If you look at test cricket you'll see most matches ended in four days. Although the last match (Ctg test) rolled on to five days, there is still four more days to go in this match and anything may happen," he said.

Ashraful was talking to reporters at the indoor facility of the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) after the first day of the 2nd test against New Zealand was abandoned due to drizzle.

Asked whether he was happy after the abandonment of the day's play, he said, "We played a good game throughout the series as a team. If the play could have been started today, it would have been better for us."

About any change in the planning, the ace batsman said, "I hope there will be no real change in the planning. Now it will be a four-day match. It'll depend on when the match starts today."

"It'll be better for us if everything goes on according to our plan. Now we'll play to our 2nd plan and think that will be effective."

Asked whether they will take an extra pacer, he said, "Considering the day's conditions, there could have been a definite extra bowler. If the condition remains the same, we'll think about that. There is moisture on the wicket and it'll take two and half hours to dry out."

But, he said, they will take the decision on taking a 3rd seamer after inspecting the wicket. "The wicket might change when the sun will come out. It was not also decided whether the seamer will come in place of a batsman or a spinner."

About the toss, the 24-year-old skipper said the toss is important in test matches and it will be much more vital after losing one day. "The wicket will be under cover for around 72 hours. There will be moisture, lets see; till now we won the toss in three out of four matches," he added.

Ashraful, who was unimpressive in the first test, also emphasized utilizing each and every session, saying, "We want to play a good cricket. If we can do that, there'll be 12 sessions out of the 15 and we'll try our best to do well in all of these 12 sessions. We want to win all the sessions. In Chittagong, we won two sessions each in the first four days and we'll try to win most of the sessions here."

Meanwhile, the Tigers had some knocks at the indoor.