Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews blasted Bangladesh for not trying to chase their target only for his counterpart Mushfiqur Rahim to hit back soon after the end of second Test in Chittagong on Saturday. Set an improbable target of 467 runs in little over a day, Bangladesh settled for a draw with 271-3 in their second innings at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.Mathews criticised the pitch as ‘not sporting’, saying that they could easily start another Test match here the day after the end of this contest.
‘I actually thought we can start another Test match tomorrow on the same wicket because it won’t assist the bowlers at all,’ Mathews said in the post-match press conference.
‘It was not a sporting wicket but I thought it was a batsman’s paradise and good for batting once the seam got soft. The bowlers didn’t get a chance.’
‘If they wanted to chase, they could have,’ said the all-rounder. ‘[But] they didn’t show any intent. We actually could have bowled more overs. We were one-nil up in the series, so they had to make the move but they didn’t show any intent.
‘You would rather lose 2-0 or you square the series; that’s what Pakistan did in Sharjah. If they wanted to make it 1-1 they could have [tried].’
Pakistan stunned Sri Lanka to knock off a target of 302 runs in less than two sessions, which, despite all denials from Mathews, the Bangladesh camp believes prompted the Sri Lankan captain to delay his declaration.
On a pitch that Mathews called ‘as flat as a road’ when replying to another question, Sri Lanka opted for safety first and batted circumspectly, declaring their second innings at 305-5 despite a considerable 161-run first innings lead.
That left Bangladesh with only eight overs to bat on the fourth day, which they successfully saw off without any damage.
Mushfiq took his chance to raise that point when his attention was drawn to Mathews’ scathing remarks.
‘I am also surprised seeing Sri Lanka’s game plan,’ Mushfiq said. ‘They gave us just five overs [in fact eight overs]. If I was in this position I would give the opponents 20 overs to bat. I would even declare after getting a 350 or 375-run lead.’
Mushfiq was shocked to learn that Mathews gave all the credit to the wicket instead of praising the Tigers for their splendid effort.
‘I think we hardly get credit when we bat well. I would rather focus on their bowling. They bowled well, but I think they are not the side to take our 20 wickets on this kind of pitch,’ said the Bangladesh skipper.
Like Mathews, Mushfiq was also disappointed, but unlike the Sri Lankan captain his frustration was not because of the drawn match but because they were unable to draw the series.
When he was told that Mathews believes losing 1-0 and losing 2-0 have the same meaning, Mushfiq appeared dumbfounded.
‘Did he say it?’ asked Mushfiq. ‘Maybe this could be applicable for them, but not for us.’
‘Like him I am also disappointed for this draw. Now I believe if we could have played well in the first Test we could have drawn the series also.’
-With New Age input
