Fatullah wicket takes Bangladesh by surprise

Fatullah Stadium

Fatullah (Bangladesh), June 9 (IANS) The newly rolled track at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, which used to be a batting paradise, has taken Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha and captain Mushfiqur Rahim by surprise a day before the start of the one-off Test against India.

Hathurusingha, who has been involved with cricket for over two decades, claims he has never seen such a track before, reports bdnews24.com.

"The wicket is hard to predict because I haven't seen such a track before. The surface of the wicket has a lot of trimmed grass -- it's unnatural. Because either a wicket has a lot of grass or none at all," the Sri Lankan said here on Tuesday.

Hathurusingha came to Bangladesh as Canada's coach during the 2011 World Cup. His side had played a warm-up against England in Fatullah then.

The Test against India that starts on Wednesday will officially be his first match here as Bangladesh coach. His reaction may not come as a surprise but even Mushfiqur is having difficulty in reading the pitch.

"Trimmed grass embedded on the surface may be seen in the wickets prepared for one-dayers or T20s, but (I've) never seen it in Tests. I have no idea how it will behave in five days. It's new for me as well," said the Bangladeshi Test captain.

However, Mushfiqur believes it will assist batsmen as well as spinners. "As of now it seems, the wicket will favour batsmen in the first two days. Spin will definitely be effective from the first day, may be more useful later. It will pit batsmen against spinners."

Fatullah's wicket was covered when the Indian team arrived for practice on Tuesday afternoon. Captain Virat Kohli had a look at the 22-yard stretch but it failed to surprise him.

"(I) just had a look at the wicket. It didn't look too unnatural. No (implanted) grass, hard wicket. (We) will later have a better look to figure out how much it will crack or if at all it will," said the India skipper.