Bangladesh have no regrets for making a slow progress on the first day of the second Test, saying that they have enough time to attack and take control of the game.
The Tigers reached 193-3 at stumps on the first day on a flat pitch devoid of any movement. The ball kept low occasionally but there were not enough turns for the spinners to make an impact, leaving it relatively easy for the batsmen.
Yet, the home side decided to pay more attention in protecting their wickets than scoring runs at an usual pace making the first day an evenly contested one despite Zimbabwe bowlers could produce just three wickets.
‘A wicket-less day would have looked better but still I think we were able to meet our target which was to bat naturally,’ said batsman Mahmudullah, who scored 56 off 152 balls.
‘The wicket was a little slow and it was hard to score on it. We played according to our plans.
‘The first session will be vital for us tomorrow [today] but we are happy that we have good number of wickets in hand.
‘The runs might come quickly if we play positive and then go aggressive, if needed,’ he said.
Mahmudullah was the one batsman who looked completely untroubled by the Zimbabwe bowlers before one moment of lapse in concentration cost him the wicket.
He played the leading role in his 95-run fourth wicket stand with Tamim Iqbal, who was unusually sedate.
Left-hander Tamim survived the whole day and faced exactly 250 balls, the most in an innings in career, yet he could manage only 74 runs.
His failure in the first Test, when he could manage only five runs in two innings might have stopped Tamim from taking any risk, but it could hardly justify his painstaking innings.
Tamim changed his batting to a great extent for the last few matches after his form deserted him this season.
Only in September he scored a fifty off 146 balls against West Indies in Saint Lucia but it was unthinkable that he will break the record of his slowest fifty just two Tests later.
The condition of Khulna was much better for batting than Saint Lucia and Zimbabweans also do not have any Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor or Suleiman Benn in their arsenal.
Yet he took 169 balls to complete his fifty, the slowest of his 17 Test fifties which had clear impact on Bangladesh’s scoring rate as they could score just 62, 65 and 66 runs in each session respectively.
Mahmudullah defended Tamim’s approach claiming that it was necessary for the team and the batsman himself.
‘I think he batted very well today, he played 250 balls today,’ Mahmudullah said in the post-day press briefing.
‘He might have reached a century if he had played his own game which is aggressive.
‘I think he worked very hard for the whole day and batted respecting the behaviour of the wicket.’
-With New Age input
