Shadman backs Joy to 'rewrite history' after dominant batting show

Bangladesh opener Shadman Islam believes Mahmudul Hasan Joy has a golden chance to etch his name in the record books as the country's highest individual scorer in Test cricket. Joy, unbeaten on a career-best 169 on his comeback Test against Ireland in Sylhet, is just 50 runs away from surpassing Mushfiqur Rahim's 219 - the current record, set against Zimbabwe in 2018.

"Alhamdulillah, Joy batted very beautifully. He is still there. So, I hope and pray that Joy can give us an even bigger and better score," Shadman told reporters after the second day's play. "I hope he definitely can (become the highest Test scorer of Bangladesh). The way Joy is batting, it's right for us to expect him to make it even bigger. We are on a very good path, and Joy is batting well, so Inshallah he will be able to," he added.

Shadman and Joy laid a strong foundation with a 168-run opening stand, the former contributing a fluent 80 off 104 balls. It was yet another instance of Shadman missing out on a hundred - his sixth score between 50 and 99 in the last 15 months - but the left-hander chose to look at the positives.

"Yes, of course. Not getting a century always brings some regret. But Alhamdulillah, I am content with what God is giving me. I'll try to convert it into a bigger one if I get set in such a position next time," he said.

The pair scored at a brisk 4.08 runs per over, but Shadman insisted they hadn't set out with an aggressive intent. "Joy and I were just talking about playing according to the ball and the wicket. When we started in the morning, there wasn't much help available. So, we capitalized on the boundary balls, and that's why the score has come up so well," he explained. "The opening partnership is definitely good for every team. Both good and bad things happen, so I hope we can continue doing well in the upcoming series."

Shadman also shed light on his decision to travel to Australia earlier this year for one-on-one sessions with former Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha - a rare and expensive move for a Bangladeshi player, with training fees of around USD 250 per hour.

"Basically, the main reason for going there was to use their conditions, like the pitch in Sydney. And there was no other facility or way to go there without him [Hathurusingha], which is why I went," Shadman said. "But I didn't work on anything technical. We just talked about how to bat, how to get big runs, and how to change the game a bit."

He clarified that his training in Australia didn't include any outdoor net sessions against local pacers. "No, no, nothing like that happened. The maximum practice we did was indoors because the weather was a bit rainy, not sunny. So, we mostly batted indoors," he said.

Meanwhile, Ireland head coach Heinrich Malan admitted it was a "pretty challenging day" for his side as Bangladesh took control of the first Test. "There were periods, especially in the middle of the day, where we controlled things nicely, but we didn't start as well as we wanted. At the back end of the day, we faced some in-batters, and it was quite tough," said Malan. "Once they were set, it was quite challenging to bowl to them. It shows how well they know their conditions."

Reflecting on his team's effort, Malan acknowledged the lack of experience in his squad. "Test cricket is about doing things consistently for long periods. The more we get these opportunities, the better we'll become," he said. "We're massively in a fight for the next three days. We need to improve in certain areas and come back strong."

Malan also rued the dropped catch that could have changed the day's narrative. "It was probably the only chance we created today. Our ground fielding was pretty good, but it would have been nice if we could have held onto that one chance," he remarked.