BAN v AFG | No excuse for the dismal batting on a flat wicket, says Nazmul Hasan
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan took a swipe at the national team for their disappointing performance with the bat on a flat batting wicket. The hosts are now desperately looking to save the one-off Test against Afghanistan at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium at Chattogram.
With just four wickets in the kitty – an Afghan spin attack look as threatening as ever – a Bangladesh loss seems inevitable unless rain comes to their rescue. Going into the final day, Afghanistan will look to register only their second-ever Test win, and a memorable one at that, after having dominated with bat and ball in nearly every session. But their president was not mucking around about the dismal nature of his team’s batting performance on what he deemed a batting paradise.
"Look at the first innings, the shot that Liton played, Mominul played a bad shot after 50. He is a Test specialist. Now, do we have to teach them what is Test cricket? They definitely had some mental issues. If they can score 370, we have to score 500 with the team that we have. This is a flat batting wicket. I don't see any reason not to perform," Nazmul was quoted saying by Cricbuzz at stumps on Day four.
“If I have to talk about performance, I have to give credit to the Afghans. Because they have batted like it is a Test match. One scored a century, and some others scored 80-90 runs. And among us - if Shakib, Mushfiqur or Riyad (Mahmudullah), if they can't even score 50 runs then there is no possibility of a win. I never felt they were playing a Test match,” Nazmul continued.
Skipper Shakib al Hasan rued not having a spin-friendly track as he opted to go without a single pace bowler in the team. This, according to Nazmul, was something the team management has to justify at the end of the match. It is to be noted that on a pitch the skipper Shakib felt has not been spin-friendly, the Afghan spinners have picked up 15 out of the Bangladesh wickets to fall.
"There were plans but the planning was not appropriate. This is my personal opinion. I have to ask what has happened. It is tough to say what the problem is without having any conversation with them. Where are the pacers? We played in a sporting wicket against them. Why the sudden change? Who made this planning, I need to know. If I talk with them now than it will affect the game. So I am waiting. They definitely had a plan but there were errors,” he said.
Nazmul added that they won't be questioning the newly-appointed coach Russell Domingo but stated that he wants the South African to follow the method of Chandika Hathurusingha rather than former head coach Steve Rhodes when it comes to planning.
