Record-setting Hasan backs Bangladesh to fight back in Sylhet Test

Hasan Mahmud said Bangladesh can still catch West Indies’ first-innings score if Mushfiqur Rahim and Tawhid Hridoy keep batting after the hosts ended the second day of the second Test on 88-3 at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Friday, 268 runs behind.

“If Mushfiq Bhai and Hridoy can continue, I think we will be able to reach their lead,” Hasan said. “The wicket is still good.”

The pacer said the ball had done little for the bowlers except early on. “If the batsmen can play their own game according to their will, then we will be able to finish it,” he said.

Hasan took 6-90 as West Indies were bowled out for 356. It was his fifth Test five-for, the most by a Bangladeshi pacer and his first at home. “A five-wicket haul at home is always very special for me,” he said.

He said Sylhet pitches usually help seamers. “There’s always movement, it’s always overcast,” Hasan said. But he said this surface flattened out after an hour or two and became “mainly batting-friendly”.

Hridoy (29) and Mushfiqur (19) were unbeaten after adding 37 for the fourth wicket. Bad light ended play early. Tanzid Hasan Tamim (16), Nayeem Hasan (5) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (18) had already gone.

Earlier in the day, Hasan had claimed his fifth Test five-wicket haul, the most by a Bangladeshi fast bowler.

“A five-wicket haul at home is always very special for me,” he said. It was his first five-for on home soil.

Hasan finished the morning session with 5-84 and ended with 6-90. He passed his countryman Shahadat Hossain, who took four five-fors in 38 Tests. Hasan reached five in 19 matches.

Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam lead the overall national list with 19 each.

Hasan’s five-fors have come in five countries: Pakistan, India, Australia, the UAE and now Bangladesh. Australia’s Nathan Lyon also took his first five in five different countries.

Asked which of his Test victims he remembers best, from a list that included Babar Azam, Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith, he said: “Definitely Virat Kohli’s wicket.”

His fifth wicket came when Litton Das stood up to the stumps and stumped Joshua Bishop. “Litton Dada and Shanto Bhai told me that if we keep up to the stumps, maybe he won’t move his feet as much,” Hasan said.

He said he enjoys setting batters up. “This feels very good actually when I outsmart the batsman,” he said. He said the aim within an over is to bowl a few balls that plant an idea, then the wicket-taking ball “with a slightly different plan”.

Hasan said Kent had helped his comeback from injury, as conditions there were similar to Australia. “I will keep trying,” he said. “As long as I am in Test cricket, I will play, and a five-wicket haul is always special.”

Meanwhile, Bangladesh opener Shadman Islam, who twisted his left ankle while fielding, won’t be able to bat in the first innings, confirmed the team’s physio Bayejedul Islam.