Bangladesh's all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz said on Sunday that the hosts could challenge Pakistan if they set a target in the 290-399 range in the first Test at Dhaka.
A superb five-wicket haul from Mehidy handed Bangladesh a valuable first-innings lead as they closed the day 34 runs ahead, with both openers unbeaten after 1.5 overs in their second innings. Mahmudul Hasan Joy was on two while Shadman Islam was yet to open his account when bad light brought an early end to play.
"There are still two days left in the match. The result is currently hanging in a 50-50 situation because we haven't secured a massive lead yet," Mehidy told reporters after the third day's play.
"We must take responsibility while batting. In Mirpur, you never know what a safe score is. However, if we can put up a minimum score that our bowlers can defend - perhaps around 290 or 300 runs - it would be a highly competitive total on this wicket," he said.
"Batting will become incredibly difficult on days four and five, so every batsman needs to take responsibility," he added.
Bangladesh prepared a green-top for their pace bowlers at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium but it was Mehidy, who dominated the day's play with his disciplined spin bowling, picking 5-102, his 14th five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
"There wasn't a lot of spin, but I tried to hit the right areas. At the same time, I did get some advantage-not every ball spun, but a few did. That might have created some doubt in the batters' minds, making it easier to pick up wickets," said Miraz.
"My role initially was just to hit good areas. When I came on to bowl, we were slightly on the back foot because we had leaked runs without taking wickets. My job was strictly to contain the run flow. If I had leaked runs too, the game would have opened up, allowing them to score 30-40 extra runs and pushing us further behind," he said.
"Wherever I play Tests on true wickets, my mindset remains the same: bowl tight, hold an end, and if I get two or three wickets by the end of the day, that's a bonus. I usually step into an attacking role in the second innings when the wicket starts turning. The wicket genuinely wasn't spinning much.
"What Taskin and I did was bowl really well from both ends. We bowled as a partnership, which created pressure and forced them into making mistakes. Test cricket is exactly like this: as long as you bowl in good areas and restrict the batsmen from scoring, opportunities will arise. Taskin and I tried to do exactly that. I focused on bowling tight from one end, Taskin picked up wickets from the other, and eventually, I got wickets too. Our bowling partnership was excellent," he added.
