Bangladesh have finally seemed to have found their batting chops in Sylhet after their top order put Ireland to task. That they have a 52-run lead, but more importantly, there are runs on the board without many wickets against it, says a lot.
There has been some scrutiny on Bangladesh's top order lately, given the big scores haven't come. Before this Test, their top three averaged 23.34, the third-worst after Ireland and West Indies since the beginning of 2024. The top two stands have yielded 168 and 170-run stands, the first time that the Bangladesh top order has two 150-plus stands. Mahmudul Hasan Joy has returned to the Test side with an unbeaten 169, while Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque have both reached the eighties.
Bangladesh finished on 338 for 1 on day two, and it has aggregated to be one of their most substantial day of top-order batting in any format. Bangladesh's top three has only scored more than 329 runs just once in Tests before, when Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes and Mominul Haque put up 377 runs in the Khulna Test against Pakistan in 2015.
Shadman, who added 168 runs for the opening stand with Mahmudul, said that the two big partnerships boosted the team's confidence.
"A good opening partnership always gives a good message to the team," Shadman said. "A partnership is always helpful in any format. Our target is to build partnerships as it always helps in a batter's scoring. We work on certain areas during practice and then during the partnerships, we talk to each other about how we can build a good stand. During this particular partnership, I think we accessed the boundary balls pretty well since the morning session. That's what Joy and I were talking about during our partnership."
"We are progressing according to our plans. We always wanted a good opening stand, which always helps the batters who comes afterwards. We have had both, from the openers and the one-down batter. We have batted well today, and we hope to bat well tomorrow so that we can put up a good total."
Shadman backed Joy to get to a double-century on day three. "Joy has batted beautifully. He is still at the crease," Shadman said. "We are hopeful that he will continue to bat for a long time tomorrow, I am hopeful that he can reach more milestones. Joy has been batting well so he should be making it a bigger innings. We are on a good path, and Joy is taking us forward."
Shadman, though, regretted missing out on his own century. "I will try to score a hundred the next time I get into such a position," he said. Shadman made 80 before edging Matthew Humphreys while trying to play a cut. He started strongly, running several singles and twos, before latching onto boundaries. Mahmudul, meanwhile, was nervous to start with, but soon began playing the strokes confidently. The pair raced to a century stand in the first session, before consolidating in the middle period.
Bangladesh will be pleased that their top order has capitalised on this opportunity against Ireland. They will hopefully look to build on this when they face higher-ranked teams.