Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim is seeking a rapid improvement in batting as they take on Zimbabwe in the second Test match at Khulna today with an eye on the series.
Batting has been the Achilles Heel for the Tigers for many days and things did not change in the first Test at Mirpur when they struggled to knock off a meagre target of 101 runs.
Bangladesh barely managed the target to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series, but Mushfiq thinks they might not be able to escape again if they are trapped in a similar situation in Khulna.
Three wickets fell before the first run was scored in the second innings and the Tigers needed a vital contribution from tail-enders to secure the win.
‘In any Test match you can see one or two soft dismissals, but in our case, we see five or six soft dismissals which is really alarming,’ Mushfiq said in Khulna on Sunday.
‘We need to concentrate better and focus on our batting in a way that if someone gets a 50, he should go on to make another 50. The team benefits when a batsman gets a 100,’
Batsmen are expected to play a crucial role in Khulna, where the wicket is according to Mushfiq is ‘far, far different than Mirpur’.
The black clay at Mirpur made it easy for the spinners to extract some bounce as well as enough turn which left the opponent team batsmen surprised more often.
A light shower after the end of first day’s play and thick cloud also helped the ball skid, making it completely the bowlers’ Test, as 37 wickets fell in three days.
However, the wicket at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium was prepared with red clay, something very similar to Chittagong wicket, which tends to favour the batsmen.
A Bangladesh Cricket Board curator on Sunday said that the hard pitch is also expected to provide some even bounce without any sideways movement, which will benefit the batsmen.
The only other Test held at the ground was between Bangladesh and West India in 2012, where 1352 runs were scored between them, which is another indication of the wicket’s batting friendly nature.
‘If you notice, you will see the wickets are different in Khulna and Chittagong than Mirpur,’ said Mushfiq. ‘It will not be as bouncy as Mirpur, so the extra bounce they extracted there, they will not get it here.
‘It will start turning after every passing day and the ball will start keeping low. So, if we win the toss and can bat one-and-a-half or two days, we will be able to put them under pressure.
Despite the turning wicket, Mushfiq said he is not too much concerned about Zimbabwe spinners.
‘Their spinners are inexperienced, which we saw in the first Test,’ he said.
‘They gave away three plus or four runs [in an over], our aim will be attacking their inexperienced bowlers. So, we are mainly worried about our batting.’
-With New Age input
