Vice captain Mashrafee Bin Mortaza says they are relieved that sensational Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis is missing the two Test home series starting on Dec. 26.
"Mendis is now a quite good bowler and his absence must relieve us," Mashrafee said to reporters during the Tigers' first practice session on Friday at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Mendis, who grabbed 26 wickets in three matches to help his side to a 2-1 Test series win over India in July-August, was ruled out of squad at the last moment due to knee injury. Rangana Herath replaced him in the 15-member squad.
The Bangladesh pace spearhead, however, believed Sri Lanka still had a good bowling attack with spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan still a big threat.
"There is no Mendis in the Sri Lankan squad, but Muralitharan is still there and he may cause the main problem."
The 25-year-old said they had been working on how to deal with Muralitharan and hoped to play better cricket in home condition.
Off-spinner Muralitharan has grabbed 76 wickets, including 10 five-wicket hauls, in nine Tests against Bangladesh.
Mashrafee said his side needed to do better in batting, bowling and fielding.
"We could not continue with the performance we had put up against New Zealand at home to South Africa last month, but this time we are confident of doing well against Sri Lanka.
"We first think of whether we can win the Test. For this, we need do well in four innings with both the bat and the ball.
"If we can play well in two innings, then we can go close to them, but it is not possible to win the match without doing better in all four innings," said Mashrafee.
He praised left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan for the way he was coming up.
"He has been bowling consistently since the World Cup in the West Indies as he pitches the ball in specific areas as [Mohammed Rafique] did and it is probably the reason for his success."
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