Bangladesh will continue to experiment with their batting order if the opening partnership can give them a start similar to the one in the second one-day international against Zimbabwe, said skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza on Tuesday. The Tigers reshuffled their batting order in the second ODI after openers put a 158-run stand and bat out 33 overs to give an ideal platform for a huge score.
The experiment, however, backfired as the Tigers lost six wickets in clusters after the big sand and could barely manage 251-7.
Sakib al Hasan was promoted to number three for the first time in his career while Sabbir Rahman, who was playing only his second match, was sent ahead of regular batsmen Mahmudullah and Mominul Haque.
Both Sakib and Sabbir suffered a duck and Bangladesh could ensure a 250-plus innings as Mominul played an unbeaten innings of 33 runs off 23 balls.
‘It would be a loss to send Sakib at five if openers play till 25 to 30 overs,’ said Mashrafee.
‘Then he will get only eight to 10 overs and that is a serious concern. If the main players don’t get the maximum time in the middle than our goal won’t be achieved,’
Mashrafee said that it won’t have an impact on Mominul Haque while replying to a question whether the move will lower the confidence of Mominul who is also in an outstanding form.
‘Usually Mominul Haque is a number three batsman and will play as a number three batsman,’ said Mashrafee. ‘Sakib will also bat at five under normal circumstances.’
Mashrafee added that he has taken consent from the batsmen before changing the order.
‘Everything is done through discussion and if Mominul feels that he is not uncomfortable in his position [new] then there is no problem. In the last day he clicked where he batted and played his role well,’ he said.
Mashrafee insisted that they brought forward Sakib in the pecking order considering that he is the most in-form batsman and needed to play maximum balls.
However, the skipper ruled out Sakib’s possibility to open the batting for Bangladesh despite there are similar examples set by other teams with their best batsman.
‘There is no possibility of Sakib turning into an opener,’ said Mashrafee. ‘And also there is no chance of experiment if everything goes according to the laws of the game.
‘It won’t be possible for Tamim-Anamul to bat for 30 overs every day,’ he added
-With New Age input
