We'll try to take last innings in Hamilton into Wellington: Shadman

Shadman Islam is one of the more promising newcomers in Bangladesh cricket. The Tigers have long been looking for a stable opening partner for the country's best batsman, Tamim Iqbal, and three innings into his Test career the 23-year-old Shadman has certainly displayed enough promise for fans to be hopeful of the future. 

A debut innings of 76 at home against the West Indies in November 2018 was followed up by innings of 24 and 37 in the recently concluded first Test against New Zealand in Hamilton. 

Although he did not set the world alight, alongside Tamim -- who hit 126 in the first innings and 74 in the second -- the left-hander proved that he had the measure of conditions and a bowling attack that he had never encountered before. It has already set him apart because no other batsmen in the lineup displayed the same level of assurance across both innings, even though Soumya Sarkar and skipper Mahmudullah Riyad showed their calibre with centuries in the second innings. 

" Of course it [his starts in the first Test] will give confidence," said Shadman before leaving Hamilton for Wellington, the venue of the second Test from March 8, on Tuesday when asked whether his two innings would give him confidence to score bigger. "I thought that I would play according to my style, my basics and my plans. And I will try in the next match, if I can get set early, to score bigger. 

"We are going to a new venue. The kind of wicket we played on here, perhaps in the next match the wicket will be a little different. Obviously, we have prepared mentally really well. I think the wicket in Wellington will be similar wicket to the ones that we did our net practices on."

More than the wicket, however, New Zealand's capital harbours another hazard for touring teams. It is the wind that sweeps the city and requires pilots to undergo special training to land aircraft at the airport. The last time Bangladesh toured, in 2017, the stiff wind almost swept diminutive batsman Mominul Haque away on the first day and he had to run towards square leg to counter the wind's momentum. 

"The wind will be there; it's a natural phenomenon," the unflappable Shadman said. "It won't be a problem if we can play normally. If we take the field with that at the back of our minds, maybe then we will have problems. I think it's best not to think about it." 

Despite the innings-and-52-run defeat in the first Test, Shadman said that because of the way the tourists ended the match, Bangladesh would not be feeling too downtrodden heading into Wellington. 

"Of course, the kind of comeback we staged [a 235-run fifth-wicket partnership between Soumya and Mahmudullah on the fourth day], inshAllah we will try to take what we did in the last innings [in Hamilton] into the first innings of the next match. InshAllah everyone will play well and we will do well."