Before the New Zealand series got underway through the drawn first Test match in Chittagong, the Bangladesh team management had put a lot of thoughts towards the number three position.
Ever since the vital position was vacated by Mohammad Ashraful, who was recently banned indefinitely from all cricketing activities, a number of options were being discussed at length by the Bangladeshi think-tank.
Enter Marshall Ayub, who saw off the challenge of fellow contender Naeem Islam by virtue of a couple of stellar seasons in the domestic arena.
Marshall, who was the highest run-scorer in the last editions of the National Cricket League and longer-version Bangladesh Cricket League, might not have made a rollicking start to his Test career but he has done his job perfectly.
The 24-year old right-handed batsman has posted scores of 25, 31 and 41 in three Test innings so far and while they might not be huge knocks, even then Marshall went a long way in making sure Bangladesh remain uninhibited despite a poor start.
Marshall’s 25 in the first innings of the first Test was scored off 109 balls as the Tigers recovered from a precarious position of 8-2.
Similarly, his 62-ball 41 which came in the first innings of the second Test which began on Monday at Mirpur, dispelled any nerves of an early collapse of wickets after the departure of opener Anamul Haque for seven.
The sequence of modest starts was not lost on Marshall who was clearly at pain for not being able to register bigger scores.
‘It would have been better if I was at the crease. Runs were there for the taking
and we were scoring freely. I should have prolonged my innings. It was my fault. I missed the line of the delivery,’ said Marshall at the post-match press conference after the end of the first day’s play of the second and final Test.
‘It’s a crime if you get out after being set at the crease. It would have been better if I was there. I am trying [to post big scores] but it’s not happening. I think my concentration was not there.’
Bangladesh, on 228-5 after the first day, lost the crucial wickets of Tamim Iqbal and Sakib al Hasan in what turned out to be the final overs of the day before rain brought an early end to proceedings.
Marshall said that in an ideal scenario, the Tigers would have been better off had the duo been a bit more conservative with their shot-making.
‘I think we lost a wicket too many. It would have been better if Sakib was there. We should not have played like that. We clapped when Tamim played a similar shot before being dismissed which went for four. But yeah, we should do better next time,’ said Marshall.
‘At this wicket we should try to score as many runs as possible. Our target now will be to score 400.’
-With New Age input
