Bangladesh Tigers all set to roar

It is being billed as the lightweights' world championship, but the two bottom-ranked nations have their own crucial agendas heading into the first Test in Chittagong on Thursday.

Bangladesh ended 2004 in pumped-up mood, and ready to go for the kill against a Zimbabwe side that has played fewer than 70 matches if the combined Test experience of all its players is taken into account. The home team's confidence has been fully restored after the Mohammad Ashraful-led assault on the third day of the second Test and a totally unexpected victory in the second ODI against India. Suddenly those sparks of wonder seem to have transformed a struggling team and, from Bangladesh's point of view at least, there could not have been a more ideal touring side to face than Zimbabwe at the start of 2005.

For their part, Zimbabwe haven't appeared in a Test for nearly nine months, when they faced, incidentally, Bangladesh. That was also the last series Zimbabwe played at full strength before internal turmoil sent their cricket tumbling into disarray.

Statistically, Bangladesh have the clear edge in every department over their inexperienced visitors. Mohammad Rafique alone has more Test wickets than the entire Zimbabwe team put together. Bangladesh's top order contains four batsmen with over 1000 runs, while Zimbabwe's only player to have reached that mark - Dion Ebrahim - is ineligible for the first match as he is serving a one-Test suspension for dissent.

Include home-advantage among these factors and Bangladesh emerge as favourites, this would have been unthinkable even a few months ago. This also puts the Tigers in unfamiliar territory as they seek to secure that priceless first Test victory in their 35th attempt.

"For the first time, we are entering a Test expecting to win," the Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said on Wednesday. "We will feel the pressure of expectation. But, playing against a quality opposition like India ahead of Zimbabwe was a big, big plus for our preparation and if we play like we have been during the later part of the India series, we should win".

But Bashar would take nothing for granted. "Contrary to what many people are saying, I don't think Zimbabwe are a weak team," he said. "In this Test, we have two opponents - Zimbabwe and complacency. We have to play solid cricket on all fronts over five days if we want to get that victory."

The Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore rates his charges as "slight favourites", and Phil Simmons, his counterpart in charge of Zimbabwe, nods in agreement. But Zimbabwe's captain Tatenda Taibu - whose junior-grade looks belie his big heart and courage - begs to differ.

"It changes nothing," Taibu said on arrival, in response to being asked whether Bangladesh's performance against India signaled a shift in their respective statuses. On the eve of the Test he was equally plucky: "We have a few surprises up our sleeves."

Bangladesh have already been warned. In a three-day warm-up fixture, Zimbabwe toyed with the bowling of a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) selection and amassed 522 for three with Stuart Matsinenyeri and Visumuzi Sibanda cracking tons while the entire top five made merry. Zimbabwe heaved a sigh of relief after Sibanda recovered from a blow on the head from a Douglas Hondo delivery while batting in the nets on Tuesday and the trained without trouble on Wednesday. Matsinenyeri's leg-spin had troubled the local team's batsmen when they batted in the practice fixture and the leg-spinner had returned six wickets in the match. But the positives from that game come with a twist.

The BCB team did not have any frontline spinners which was a deliberate ploy by the Bangladesh selectors to keep the tourists in the dark as to what to expect in the Test. The game was played at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium and the Zimbabweans did not manage so much as a peek at the MA Aziz wicket until Tuesday afternoon.

What they saw was a pitch devoid of any live grass that should be great for batting but a bit tricky if you have a class spinner bowling at you. Bangladesh have picked fast maturing left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Junior to partner Rafique in the first XI believing they will do the bulk of the work. For inspiration, they only have to look back a couple of months when New Zealand's Daniel Vettori pocketed 12 victims on this same track. The Tigers were at the receiving end then - now they sense a reverse.

Bangladesh 1 Habibul Bashar (capt), 2 Javed Omar, 3 Nafees Iqbal, 4 Rajin Saleh, 5 Mohammad Ashraful, 6 Khaled Mashud (wk), 7 Aftab Ahmed, 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Mashrafe bin-Mortaza, 10 Tapash Baisha, 11 Enamul Haque Junior 12th man: TBA.

Zimbabwe 1 Barney Rogers, 2 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 3 Vusi Sibanda, 4 Brendan Taylor, 5 Hamilton Masakadza, 6 Tatenda Taibu (capt/wk), 7 Elton Chigumbura 8 Mluleki Nkala, 9 Graeme Cremer, 10 Douglas Hondo, 11 Chris Mpofu 12th man: Prosper Utseya.