Skipper Mushfiqur disappointed after Mirpur Test wash-out

Captain Mushfiqur Rahim thinks the weather denied Bangladesh a chance to learn much in the Test series against South Africa.

Sports Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 3 August 2015, 11:35 AM
Updated : 3 August 2015, 02:24 PM

Six out of the 10 days in the series were lost to rain after the second Test in Mirpur was called off on Monday.

Not even a ball was bowled in the last two days of the Chittagong Test and the last four days of the one in Dhaka.

Bangladesh rarely get the chance to play Tests against top ranked South Africa.  But such little action in the 0-0 drawn left the Tigers disappointed.

Mahmudullah had said on Sunday that putting up a fight on the field was more important for them than thinking about win or loss.

The skipper spoke to reporters at a press conference after the match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Mushfiqur shared the view of his top order batsman saying, “When the game is against the No. 1 team, you could learn a lot… Perhaps we were denied that opportunity."

“Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander consistently keep the batsmen under pressure while Hashim Amla, Jean-Paul Duminy and Faf du Plessis rarely make mistakes,” Mushfiq said.

Mushfiq and his men wanted to study these aspects before their last series of the year in October.

Bangladesh will square off against Australia, who are ranked second in Tests, in a two-match Test series at their backyard in October.
A major concern for the Tigers had been batsmen’s failure to stretch their innings after getting starts.
No Bangladesh batsman could score a century in their last four Tests. Five batsmen with scores of 30 or above went back prematurely on the first day as Bangladesh slumped to 246 for 8.
Mahmudullah termed it 'a crime in Test cricket' to not convert starts to bigger innings.
Mushfiq agrees.

"Getting out after scoring 30-35 is definitely a crime in Test cricket. Big scores help both the team and obviously oneself,” the 26-year old said.

"Be it a hundred or more, it is crucial to win or draw a Test. But without [those scores], it becomes very difficult."

"It is our batsmen’s next challenge. We have two more Tests this year. We will try to solve this problem."

Mushfiq himself went through a poor spell with the bat. He recovered from it scoring 65 on the first day of the second Test. It was his first half-century after 11 innings.

“The team played well. But as the captain you will always want runs from your bat; so you can set an example for the team."

He scored his last century in West Indies in September and last fifty against Zimbabwe in October last year.

"Feels good after making runs in the last innings. I had never [lost] my flow. I just could not prolong my (other) innings.”