Winning against Afghanistan crucial to regain normalcy, opines Shakib Al-Hasan
Shakib Al-Hasan has stated that a victory is a must for his team in the only Test against Afghanistan to put behind the recent cricketing disappointments the country has faced as a whole. He also discussed his plans for the game, his team's readiness and how he deals with criticism levelled at him.
The Bangladesh cricket team will return to action after more than a month when it takes the field against Afghanistan in the one-off Test scheduled to start from the fifth of September at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong. Of late, they have found success hard to come by in the international arena, failing to win a single match in the tour to New Zealand before finishing a dismal eighth in the World Cup and being whitewashed by Sri Lanka in the latest ODI series.
The only achievement the country has recorded in the sport in the year is reaching the final of the U-19 Tri-series tournament in England, where they lost to subcontinental rivals India after having knocked out the hosts in the group stages.
"Winning this match is very important. As I am seeing it because we did not have a good period overall for some time now whether it is with the A team, academy team- we could not perform very well except the under-19s. So from that perspective, if we win this match, I think the situation will start looking normal again. Doesn't matter [if we win] in a good way or bad way. It’s the same if it's 10 or 100 runs win but winning is most important," Shakib Al-Hasan was reported saying by Cricbuzz.
Having regained captaincy of the Test team a couple of years ago, the skipper has brought reasonable success to the nation in the format as far as home matches as concerned. His tactic of playing with as many as four spinners has seen the Tigers record victories against Zimbabwe and West Indies at home last year, though its failure to groom fast bowlers for foreign conditions has led to criticism.
"I personally don't feel bothered [about the criticism]," said Shakib. "When we play in England and Australia, they play four seamers and no spinner. Do we criticize about that? So I don't think there is anything to be worried about. I don't think about these matters at all. We will try to win this match, and for that if we have to play two or three seamers we will, or if we have to play with one, we will. We will try to stick with the plan and work according to that,” Shakib explained.
The batsmen will also face a stern challenge since Afghanistan is regarded as having one of the world’s most lethal spinning contingents, though Shakib believes his players will be up to the task after the recent national camp.
"There will always be some challenge for the batsmen to perform because their fast bowlers are good too and spinners are so well. So a big challenge is waiting for our batsmen. But I have faith in my batsmen. The level of preparation we have taken in the past two weeks; I don't think we should work more than that. Everyone has given their best. Now we can feel proud if we can show that in the field," he concluded on the matter.
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