Turbulent Tigers up against Proteas who look for World Test Championship final spot in Chattogram Test

Bangladesh will be looking to get back to winning ways in the second Test against South Africa in Chattogrm which begins today but they have internal issues which would derail their cause.

There have been rumours swirling over Najmul Hossain Shanto wanting to step down from captaincy.

He has been struggling with the bat as well in recent times and his teammate Taijul Islam addressed them in the pre-match press conference on Monday, perhaps another sign that there is truth to the rumours about Shanto.

"I haven't heard anything on this matter. It's not part of our role, I'm not fully informed on this," Taijul said.

But the off-spinner added that he was ready for captaincy if offered: "Having played for 10 years, I'm fully prepared."

The Chattogram pitch is expected to favour the batters more and conditions could be even hotter than it was in Dhaka.

"Just based on the nets, there's a slightly true bounce, and it's slightly quicker off the wicket. So,  we'll look at the wicket now and come to conclusion regarding the team and things like that. It's slightly different from Dhaka as the venues are different from each other," South Africa's stand-in captain Aiden Markram said.

The Proteas will be looking to add more fuel to the fire of an unsettled Bangladesh. 

"Whatever the Bangladesh team is going through is unfortunate and has got nothing to do with us. We are trying to play good cricket and see what it gets us at the end of the five days," Markram added. 

Taijul on the other hand spoke about him not being affected by outside noise but also admitted he had not control over how the others might have reacted to such situations. 

"This is a team game. The most important thing is that the team remains in good condition. Some players may be affected by outside events, while others can continue their role with calmness. Personally, I try to stay relaxed and focus on my work," Taijul explained.

Batting and team combination will be a big focus for both teams as their top-order batters have not been scoring runs consistently and as a result, they've played an extra batter and gone with a four-man bowling attack.

"I think this is another chance for the batters. We haven't performed to the level as expected as a team, although some have had good individual performances in different matches. If we can build two or three partnerships in a game, and one or two players score a century, our total will be much bigger," Taijul said.

But Taijul also added that he wasn't sure about how many bowlers would be selected in the XI and that "nothing had been revealed yet but we are prepared". 

Markram also echoed Taijul's statement when it came to the batters and he hoped that they'd come good eventually: "Ultimately, we have to score runs. Discussions have been made as a batting unit, our top 6 are really hungry to contribute."

While both players spoke about wanting to win the match, South Africa will have the added incentive of having a chance to play in the World Test Championship (WTC) final if they can win their remaining five Tests or even four out of five Tests.

"Five Tests means there is a lot of cricket left to be played. So that's pretty much where we are at now. We hopefully can go session by session, game by game and give ourselves a good chance. But yeah, excited about what could be moving forward," Markram concluded.

Taijul spoke along the same lines even though Bangladesh have never beaten South Africa in a Test match so far. 

"Our goal remains the same: we'll play to win. As for the match conditions, we'll understand them once the game unfolds. But the focus will be on playing as a team - whether it's batting, bowling, or fielding. We'll do our best to win," Taijul concluded.