Mushy blames structure instead
There was hardly anything left for a captain to say when his team lost the match by an innings and 184 runs. That might be the reason why Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim was found at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday to be bewildering while talking about yet another heavy defeat.
It made some sense when the wicketkeeper-batsman suggested that nothing would be changed until Bangladesh Cricket Board improves the infrastructure of first-class cricket. But many were surprised when he defended the batsmen’s excessive shots in both the innings which was the real reason behind the huge loss.
“We must improve our first-class infrastructure and without that we will continue with this sort of performance in Test cricket. We must make it a habit of scoring hundred or double-hundred by playing in the first-class competition. We may show some impressive performances in 1-2 matches but overall, the situation will be the same as it is today,” said the Bangladesh skipper. “Another thing which we need to confirm is that all the national players should be made available in the first-class competition to ensure the level of competitiveness. We can improve our skills by only playing in the NCL.”
When even the visiting batsmen played sensibly by checking their shots against a comparatively weaker bowling attack and especially on a placid track, the Bangladesh batsmen went for ambitious shots like playing sweep or pull which surprised many and showed that they didn’t learn any lesson from the continuous mistakes. Mushfiqur however said that his batsmen learnt from the first innings mistakes to do better in the second essay.
“I think our batsmen tried to play their natural game and there was nothing wrong with that. Actually we have to show more patience, determination and right application to prolong the innings,” defended Mushfiqur.
The Bangladesh skipper also said that there were some positives in their performance and they can take this to the second and final Test against the visitors to be held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from December 17.
“Nazim bhai played well in the match. We had an expectation of him and he fulfilled it. We can take inspiration from him. Our bowling was also not bad though we dropped some catches which helped some of the Pakistani batsmen to play big innings,” he said. “We actually got out of the match when we lost five wickets in the first session of the first day. But still Nasir and Shakib batted well in the first innings while Nazimuddin and Shakib played good knocks in the second which was the positives for us.”
Nazimuddin admitted that scoring in the National Cricket League, the lone first-class competition in the country, helped the Chittagonian to make an impressive debut in the Test cricket. “My first-class experience helped me to bat well in the match. I’m happy with my performance in the first Test match. I was a little bit nervous but I tried to stay at the crease. After fifty, I was a bit excited otherwise I could have prolonged my innings,” said a delighted Nazimuddin.
Shockingly though, he was not fully disappointed for not making the a hundred on debut.
-With The Daily Star input