The Bangladesh batsmen’s struggle against off-spin during this series has been staggering. Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal and Shoaib Malik have dominated proceedings like three gung-ho fast bowlers have often done over the last two decades.
Hafeez has consistently bowled a superb opening spell while Ajmal has been tight as ever. Malik too has picked up wickets, mainly for using the unexpected bounce from the Mirpur surface.
The trio, of whom two are all-rounders, has not been dealt with properly, begging the question whether the Tigers were preparing for Ajmal alone, though he too has been hardly dictated. It was expected that the visitors would use all of their off-spinning brigade due to the number of left-handers in the Tigers’ line-up, which also shows the disintegration of skills on their part while dealing with bowlers other than medium-pacers and left-arm spinners.
While all the concentration over the years has been on tackling pace, bounce and swing against every bowling attack, the perception has often been that being a team from the sub-continent, Bangladesh are capable of playing spin properly. To an extent, spin has often been a form of relief after the torrid spells of fast bowling.
In one-day cricket however, four spinners are among the top five wicket-takers against Bangladesh with Ray Price (a left-arm spinner no less) leading the pack.
Muttiah Muralidaran and Prosper Utseya are also in this list. The presence of the Sri Lankan legend is not unusual but the Zimbabwean offie has always held a stranglehold on the Bangladesh batsmen. Among off-spinners, Saqlain Mushtaq, Tillekaratne Dilshan, Steven Tikolo, Malik and Sachin Tendulkar have more than ten wickets against the Tigers in ODIs.
While some of the part-timers’ success is negligible and greats’ success predictable, the lack of quality off-spinners in the domestic game is also a major reason for this constant difficulty against the slow men.
Another contribution to this problem has been the absolute refusal of the previous regime to prepare against different types of bowlers. Maybe the focus was on getting techniques corrected while playing fast bowling but as professional cricketers, one has to be prepared for every sort of attack.
This is perhaps yet another bullet point in Stuart Law’s ever-lengthening to-do list.
-With The Daily Star input
