adminIt was a powerful contrast: on television, one man was batting with the freedom of a escaped prisoner; on the field, 18 others were being stifled as they tried to move forward.
Ask around and many will say that is their impression of Bangladesh’s Test cricket. Although they have made definite strides in the shorter versions, their latest Test defeat smacked of regression. Those involved don’t agree, however.
“We know we didn’t play as well as we could have,” Shane Jurgensen, the Bangladesh coach, said.
“We have come here to win but at the same time we know that Zimbabwe are a tough opponent. Losing a game is not ideal, especially as it was a game a lot of people may have expected us to win. But if you actually look at the record of Zimbabwe in their own country, they have performed quite well, so I don’t understand why people seem to be very upset.”
The anger is perfectly plausible: Bangladesh came to Zimbabwe as favourites and their opposition was knotted in turmoil. To lose by a margin as big as 335 runs was more of an embarrassment than it was just disappointing and it has set them back. Bangladesh must win the second Test to avoid their 38th series defeat.
They can start by batting in completely the opposite fashion to Gayle.
“We didn’t play with any patience and we need to improve that,” Jurgensen said.
“We just have to bat for longer. We did not last until the second new ball in each innings, we had no partnerships or players batting for long periods.” Bangladesh’s highest partnership was 53 runs and although Mohammad Ashraful spent more than two hours at the crease in both innings, only one other batsman, Jahurul Islam, showed the same kind of staying power.
“We have to be very disciplined in our approach to every ball, and do our basics right on this surface, which is a little bit foreign to us,” Jurgensen said.
The surface may have had an effect but too often the Bangladesh batsmen got frustrated when runs dried up and Zimbabwe used that to their advantage. “We know that they are pretty attacking players and that if you starve them for runs, they create chances,” Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwe’s captain, said. Mahmudullah was one of the players guilty of that and his position at No. 4 has been questioned but Jurgensen indicated his time had not run out just yet.
“In the second innings he looked a bit more himself and it was a shame that he got out,” he said.
“He probably put a little pressure on himself but in the second innings he was looking positive, and played like the Mahmudullah we know. His footwork was positive.”
While impatience was the problem with the bat, a lack of creativity hindered Bangladesh in the field.
Mushfiqur Rahim was over-reliant on his left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr, under-bowled Sohag Gazi and did not have a third seamer to back up Robiul Islam and Rubel Hossain.
“We should have probably picked three quicks but we went with our strength,” Jurgensen said.
“We just didn’t bowl well enough for long enough. There were periods where we probably could have attacked them more, with different types of deliveries and different methods.” — Cricinfo.com.
Online Reporter