Shadman Islam credits practice game for half-century on debut

The visitors played a two-day practice match against Bangladesh Cricket Board XI ahead of the series and Islam played a handy knock of 73 in BCB XI's only innings in the game.

"The practice game helped me a lot as I was aware of their bowling unit," Islam said. "I planned the same way I had planned against them in the practice game."

The 23-year-old, whose 76 helped Bangladesh reach 259/5 at stumps on the first day, also praised senior players in the squad for encouraging him to play his natural game. "The seniors are very experienced and they told me to bat like the way I bat in domestic cricket," Islam said.

Islam's promising debut comes as a relief for Bangladesh – they have been struggling to find a stable opening pair, especially after Tamim Iqbal's injury during the Asia Cup in September, with Imrul Kayes and Liton Das not accumulating many runs in their outings.

Das made just 47 runs in the Tests against Zimbabwe, and Kayes hasn't fared much better, managing just 97 runs from his last three Tests. Islam, who scored 648 first-class runs this year, said he could have gone on to score a hundred on debut.

"There is regret because everyone would like to score a hundred on debut," he said. "I tried to give my best shot in the middle (but) probably couldn't fulfill the requirements totally as I felt I could (have) contributed a bit more for the team."

Meanwhile, the Windies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, who picked up the wickets of Islam and Mohammad Mithun on the first day, remained confident of a good batting show by his team.

"The pitch is better than the previous one," said Mithun. "It is just a bit slow. It is flatter. It is good for batting. The wicket will hold up a bit for the first three days. It will play good.

"But we have to see how it goes from the third afternoon onwards. No matter how the wicket plays, we have to bat properly."