Bangladesh wicket-keeper Mohammad Mithun wants his team to show consistency across sessions, ahead of the two-Test series against India, starting with the first game today at Indore’s Holkar Stadium.
To that end, Mithun hoped Bangladesh can take inspiration from their first ever T20I win against India, in the opening game of their tour earlier this month. He also wished Bangladesh draw from the lessons to be learned from their subsequent defeats, as they eventually conceded the T20I series 2-1.
In the deciding T20I, Bangladesh, at 110/2 in the 13th over, seemed on course to chase down India’s 174/5. However, a dramatic collapse resulted in them capitulating for 144, giving the hosts a comfortable 30-run win.
Mithun, who had combined with Mohammad Naim for a 98-run to put his team on course, espoused the value of patience in the longest format.
“Look, in the past, no one gave us any chance when it comes to beating India in a T20, and that too in their own backyard,” Mithun told reporters on Tuesday. “But our players had that belief. Whenever we play, whether it is difficult or easy opponent, we try to win the match. It happens sometimes and it doesn’t on other occasions. We are disappointed that we could not win the last game despite creating chances, and at the same time now we are looking forward to doing well in the Test series.
“We get down to the field with the mindset of winning the match. It is not a T20 match that we will try to win immediately. Here, every session will be important. The first two hours is as important as the last two hours. So we need to win session by session to create our chances of winning the game.
“If we build up a partnership and later two or three wickets fall quickly, we will be on the back foot again. The match is open for five days. It’s not only the middle order but the top order needs to perform as well because that will make the workload of the middle order easier. We have to be consistent in each session.”
India’s rise to the top in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings has been brought about by the consistency and quality shown by their all-round bowling attack, and Bangladesh, under their batting coach Neil McKenzie, are focusing on technical aspects to overcome the tough challenge.
“We all know the strength of their bowling line-up,” Mithun said. “We are working on how to tackle their spinners because we feel it will be difficult for their spinners than their pace bowlers. It is batting friendly for the first two days, but afterwards their spinners come into play as they try to attack their opponents keeping them in the forefront. We are working on some technical aspects keeping our focus on how to handle them.
“We are looking at our strength more than focusing on their weakness because no team could do well at their [India’s] home in the recent past.”
