Bangladesh lose Mirpur Test by eight wickets as Shanto blames batting failure, not Taijul’s bowling

Bangladesh have begun the two-match series against the West Indies with an eight-wicket defeat in the Mirpur Test. On a spin-friendly home wicket, the hosts’ batters failed to handle the visitors’ spin attack. After the defeat, however, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto refused to point fingers at his bowlers; in his view, while the West Indies spinners bowled well, Bangladesh’s batting was even more disappointing.

Speaking at the press conference after the match, Shanto said he was not belittling anyone, but felt Bangladesh had batted worse than Taijul Islam had bowled well. Without showing any disrespect to Taijul, he said the team could have handled the opposition spin a little better.

On Taijul, Shanto added that the bowler has always bowled very well over the years and may have bowled a little less well in this match, but that can happen. A top bowler who has performed for so many years should not be judged so quickly, he said, adding that he believes Taijul will bounce back strongly in the second Test.

Bangladesh’s batting weakness was clear in both innings of the first Test. In the first innings, the hosts made 272, built around Sadman Islam’s century of 105. In reply, the West Indies were bowled out for 245, with Nayeem Hasan taking four wickets.

Bangladesh could not use that advantage in the second innings. Against the spin of Roston Chase and Jomel Warrican, the hosts were dismissed for just 142. Without Nayeem Hasan’s fighting half-century of 52, the situation could have been even worse. That left the West Indies a target of only 170 runs, which they reached for the loss of two wickets.

Asked why Bangladesh’s batters did not use the sweep, reverse sweep or cut shots that the opposition used freely against Bangladesh’s spinners, Shanto admitted those shots could have been effective on a spin wicket and should have been taken. But the batters could not settle at the crease and so could not play according to plan; because no one really got set, that option never developed, he said.

The captain believes that, given the team’s batting ability, the West Indies spinners could have been handled better. He said Bangladesh sometimes play spin well and sometimes play fast bowling well, but this time, as a batting unit, they could have handled the spinners a little better and unfortunately could not.

Questions were also raised at the press conference about the team’s preparation. Shanto was asked whether playing the ODI format in Dubai before the Test, limited team practice after returning home and a change of batting coach had left gaps in preparation. The captain claimed there was no shortage in preparation, saying that as professional cricketers it is their responsibility to prepare separately for each format.

Shanto also described as unfortunate the absence of Mushfiqur Rahim before the match and of Mominul Haque in the second innings. He said he felt the absence of an experienced cricketer like Mushfiqur. Tawhid Hridoy, who came into the side in his place, had been batting well in the first innings, the captain said, while expressing disappointment that the innings could not be made bigger.

Shanto was not satisfied with Bangladesh’s bowling in the second innings either. Admitting that a target of 170 was not enough, he said the bowlers could still have bowled a little better, and that in his view the team did not bowl well in the second innings.

Towards the end of the press conference, the Bangladesh captain also accepted responsibility for his own batting failure. Having played Test cricket for a long time and with experience of these conditions, he said he should have played a bigger innings when the team needed it. In Shanto’s words, the batting was not good, especially in the first innings; as a senior batter he should have taken more responsibility, and if he had scored big, the team total could have been 270 or 370 instead of 170.