Bangladesh stand-in skipper Mahmudullah Riyad urged the batsmen to show guts as they are on the brink of being whitewashed in the Test series too after their innings and 12 runs margin defeat to New Zealand in the second Test in Wellington.
Bangladesh also were whitewashed in the three-match ODI series, following a batting debacle which continued in the Test series.
New Zealand fast bowlers proved to be relentless with Trent Boult coming up with high pace while Neil Wagner intimidating Bangladesh batsmen with vicious short deliveries. Bangladesh batsmen looked short of idea to how to deal with them and no one so far could face them off with any purpose, excluding experienced Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah Riyad. According to Mahmudullah that they were in two minds against Neil Wagner and added that they have to bat with lot more purpose if they want to do well in the last Test.
Despite the batsmen showed their shortcomings, the stand in captain refused to give up hopes on them, saying that they have the ability to play better than they showed in the first two Tests.
“We have to bat with more guts for longer periods,” Mahmudullah said on Tuesday after his side’s innings and 12 runs margin defeat to New Zealand in the second Test in Wellington.
“A number of our batsmen are playing half-hearted shots, or we are not committed. We are in two minds whether to play a shot or not. You need to back yourself. If you want to attack, you should know how you want to cope with their bouncer theory,” he added.
What would hurt Bangladesh that they got a good start from their openers in all two Test matches and formed 50 plus partnership in the first three innings of two Tests, something which no team could do since South Africa in 1999.
But the middle order collapse meant the effort of the openers was ruined.
“In the first innings, Tamim and Shadman gave us a good start and even after Wagner started with his bouncer theory, we were handling him well but then we gave it away,” he said. “We knew about him from the last time we were here.
Now we are talking a lot about the Wagner factor. There was certainly help in the pitches for both sets of pace bowlers but we couldn’t utilize it as well as they did.
I believe that our batsmen have the skill level to handle their short-ball tactics,” he said.
Mahmudullah added that they are well aware that Christchurch wicket will be fast and they need to pull up their socks immediately if they want to leave any impact on the last Test, scheduled from March 16.
“They will probably have a fast wicket in Christchurch, so our batsmen have to be more responsible, particularly with three new bowlers in the side,” Mahmudullah remarked.
“I think it is the batsmen who should take more of the blame. We were bowled out twice inside two-and-a-half days. It’s not something that we expected,” he said.
