Bangladesh batsman Mominul Haque said he won’t cite lack of preparation as an excuse for the team’s disappointing performance in the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. The hosts, who already conceded the opening Test, ended the fourth day’s play of the second Test in Chattogram needing 243 more runs for an improbable win with just three wickets in hand.

Coming into the series, Bangladesh played a lot of white-ball cricket and it has been cited in the country’s cricketing circles that the lack of representative preparation played a part in their poor show.

“I don’t think there was any lack of preparation. Everyone played white-ball cricket. [But] It is not given that we would have prepared better playing a four-day game,” he said. “How far off is our first-class cricket from the international level? It won’t sound nice but there’s a huge gap. It is like night and day. Everyone knows about it. I am not making an excuse. I play in the NCL (country’s traditional first-class tournament) where I face virtually no challenge at all. I have to face different challenges [in a Test match],” he said.

Mominul added that they young crop of cricketers are very passionate about Test cricket although their love for the long format is not reflected in their disappointing performances in the format. “Everyone is passionate about Tests. They are very much interested. It doesn’t seem like it because of the result in front of us.

“They [the youngsters] are dedicated and hungry. Joy and Dipu are Under-19 World Cup winners. It is not an easy thing to be a World Cup winner. When you see how they react after getting out for a low score or a 50, you can see their hunger. There’s no shortage of dedication. The more they get to play Tests, the better they will become,” Mominul said.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan head coach Chris Silverwood said that his pace unit was reaping the rewards for patience and the good lines and length they’ve maintained. “I think they [pace bowlers] have been absolutely fantastic in this series. We have seen some good skill levels from the boys. They have shown a lot of heart, determination and passion. I think they are learning how to bowl in different conditions. We had a completely style of pitch in the last Test. So we had to change the way we go about things. They adapted very well. They are growing. They have a lot left to learn. They are improving all the time,” said Silverwood.

“We are working on their patience and discipline. It is a skill that if you can acquire, you can be successful anywhere in the world. It makes you even more dangerous on green, seaming wickets. In these sort of wickets, you need to hold your line and length. Ask good questions for a long period of time. Strangle the run-rate. We saw that life became difficult when we got the run-rate under three. The pressure was on the batters. We forced errors. Bangladesh didn’t allow us to do that today. The run-rate stayed around 3.9, which means they were pushing back. It is a good learning curve for us,” he said.

“Lahiru Kumara has created impact. He got wickets in important times. He bowled some fantastic deliveries. He has looked dangerous every time he has come into the attack. We want to continue to develop him. I think the more he plays, the better he is going to get,” he added.