'We can surely pull it off'
In the end Bangladesh didn't quite pull it off, but after the third day at Multan, they were on the brink of history, needing just four wickets to register their first Test win
I feel quite relaxed actually, but at the same time I am tense about what is going to happen tomorrow.
I give us an 80 per cent chance. We are near and if we can continue with what we are doing so far - getting the ball to pitch on the right spot - then yes, we can surely pull it off.
Our main weapons are [Mohammad] Rafique, Manjirul [Islam] and myself. We have to maintain our rhythm as we have been doing over the last couple of days and pitch it right. Inzy [Inzamam-ul-Haq], definitely, is the most dangerous, but at the same time we should realise that we have to get another four wickets and they have to get 114 runs. So we have to remain focused.
Yes, but I have told them that we shouldn't look at the end result. We should go in there and focus on our individual jobs without letting nerves creep in. For us results don't matter, it is becoming consistent which should be our main concern.
The wicket is a true one. If the bowler fails to pitch it in the right spot, the batsman will make hay. But if the bowlers does put it in the right place, he stands to make profit.
I knew if I didn't perform my neck was on the line. And it is the performance that defines a player. Forget me being the captain, it doesn't matter if I am not performing as a player. But it was not that I was not trying, I was giving it my best, but with no luck. I was getting bad umpiring decisions and catches were dropped off my own bowling. So nothing was working properly. But in Australia I started getting my rhythm back and now I have improved further here, in Pakistan.
I haven't gone out of my way to carry out some improvement. I am just bowling the right length and line and am being lucky.
Well, the hunger has always been there, only that it has become conspicuous from the Australian tour. Plus the constant media-punching about our Test status helped too. We wanted to prove to the world that we deserve that status and Dav [Whatmore] has helped us with his that.
I know one thing, I will be thinking about what to do tomorrow and I hope to catch some sleep.
I don't think so. The closest was the 1999 victory over Pakistan in the World Cup was the nearest, but this is a different kind of situation.
My ambition is to see Bangladesh climb the ICC ladder and reach the seventh rung at least before I retire. We need to believe that we can attain that position.