Zimbabwe skipper Hamilton Masakadza said they are taking a lot of positives from the just concluded two-match Test series against Bangladesh as it hardened them as a Test unit.
Zimbabwe won the opening Test by 151 runs to lead the series before host came back strongly against the second Test as they defeated the visitors by 218 runs to level the series.
''I think the biggest thing for us is, the way the guys played in both Tests just showed us what we can do as a team. It will give us a lot of confidence going forward. Having been in battles like this really hardens you, and you come out the better for it on the other side,'' Hamilton told reporters at the press conference at Dhaka on Thursday.
''That's the biggest lesson and the biggest positive for us, that we came and showed what we can do in foreign conditions - conditions that have been really hard for pretty much everyone around the world. We came and really competed and took the game to Bangladesh. So that's really positive and big for us,'' he said.
Hamilton added that he was extremely happy to see some of his team mates excel in the longer formats considering they play Test cricket after long intervals. Brendan Taylor scored successive centuries in the second Test while they won the opening Test on the back of some unified effort.
''A world class performance from a world class player there in Brendan Taylor in this game. He really showed the way of how to bat in these conditions. That was really impressive from him, the way he batted in both innings. Kyle Jarvis also bowled really well,'' said Hamilton .
''Even in Sylhet, Tendai Chatara. The seamers have got us wickets early in every game, and the spinners came into it in the first match with Brandon, my brother and Sikander bowling really well,'' he said.
'' If we had managed to build on that four wickets, we might have managed to keep them down to something sort of 320 350 which we would definitely have fancied our chances of getting.
That wicket didn't really deteriorate or misbehave as much as we expected it to, or as much as it normally does. If we'd managed to get a few more after they were four down, we could have had them under pressure,'' he said.
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