Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal said that Bangladesh won't be benefitted in the long run if their batters keep getting out in their 30s and 40s. The veteran was not pleased with Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan getting out after promising in the second innings of the opening Test against India at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, report agencies.
After being asked to chase down a mammoth score of 515, Bangladesh started well with a 62-run stand for the opening wicket off 16.2 overs between Zakir and Shadman. Zakir got out to Jasprit Bumrah for 33 while Shadman made 35 and got out to Ravi Ashwin. Tamim said that the batters need to convert their starts consistently to garner praise.
"Both the openers looked very solid and were batting very comfortably. But these 30s, 35s won't help Bangladesh in the longer run. We talked about how good they were for an hour or so, but people will still see it as 30s and won't understand how well they batted. That's why it's very important for openers to make it count whenever they get an opportunity," Tamim told the broadcasters.
"We know that facing the new ball in Test cricket is very difficult. But when you get a start you need to make it count. The openers will be very disappointed, but they played much better than in the first innings," Tamim added.
After Shadman and Zakir departed, Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim also failed to perform. Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, however, came out firing on all cylinders. The captain stayed not out on 51 runs off 60 balls, laced with four fours and three sixes before bad light stopped play.
Ravi Ashwin picked up three wickets to put the visitors under immense pressure. At Stumps on Day 3, Bangladesh are staring down the barrel as they needed 357 more runs to win with six wickets in hand.
Meanwhile, Tamim questioned Shakib Al Hasan's inclusion into the playing XI in 1st Test against India. He informed that Shakib was facing trouble with his finger and shoulder and further added that the team only played with four bowlers.
Shakib suffered a blow on his index finger while batting against Sri Lanka and was ruled out of the remainder of the ODI World Cup 2023 in November last year. The Bangladesh team were put on the backfoot by the Indian team with their lead exceeding 400-plus in the 1st Test at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
"I was very surprised that Shakib didn't come and bowl and then I got some info from one of our fellow commentators, Murali Karthik was having a word with him. Apparently, he is having some issues with his finger, which had a surgery, and he is having an issue with his shoulder. So I believe the team management should have known this before the Test matches because if he was not communicated properly, that means Bangladesh is playing with four bowlers, which is very unfortunate," Tamim told Jio Cinema.
During the 1st innings, when India was batting, Shakib bowled only eight overs and conceded 50 runs at an economy rate of 6.2. The rest of the Bangladeshi bowlers bowled more than 18 overs as India scored 376 runs. During the 2nd innings, Shakib managed to score 32 runs and was their top-run scorer as the team was bundled out for 149. In the 3rd innings, Shakib couldn't make any impact with the ball as he didn't manage to pick any wicket so far.
"Bangladesh didn't create chances"
Tamim was upset with Bangladesh's approach on the field as Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant shared a 167-run stand.
"Maybe a message from the dressing room that they want to get on things with it and especially the way Bangladesh has set field. It was almost feeling like that. They are just hoping that something will happen rather than creating something. The only way what I felt was Bangladesh picking up wicket is somebody just tried. Hit Six went straight up and somebody catches. Otherwise, I didn't see anything else,"
"No five fielders were out in the boundary. They were just for the bowling. For the sake of it, they were bowling. And I think the lack of a lot of things, I think especially the body language of the fielders were extremely down," he added.
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