BSS, Dhaka :
Australian captain termed Bangladesh as a dangerous side after Tigers shocked them to notched a 20 runs victory over the Aussies in the first Test match at Mirpur on Wednesday.
Smith in post match interview said asked how he will evaluate Bangladesh, He said, “They have certainly come a long way over the last couple of years. I think they’re a dangerous side, particularly here at home as we’ve seen. They’ve just beaten us; they obviously beat England not too long ago, so they’re a team that’s confident in these conditions.
They’ve got some good players. I thought that Tamim Iqbal looked very good at the top of the order, chanced his arm and played some good aggressive cricket. Shakib played particularly well in the first innings and bowled well in both innings as well, so their experienced players really stood up in this game for them. I thought they played very well.
I thought Shakib he played quite aggressively in the first innings. Any width he got, he put away. We were probably a little bit short and wide, our fast bowlers, and our spinners probably just didn’t hit their lengths quite as consistently as we would have liked.
I think that’s the key to what Shakib does really well. His lengths are spectacular and he lets the ball do whatever it needs to do off a good length. It’s the hardest ball to play, the one that’s on a good length, and I thought our spinners were a little bit inconsistent with their lengths.
Asked was it a very close match, Smith said, “Obviously it was a pretty close game. I think the first innings, 260 and that partnership as I said with Shakib and Tamim that really set them up in the first innings.
Asked about selection in Chittagong, Smith said “We’ve obviously got a few options here. We’ve got the options to do what we want to do in the second test match. We will have to wait and see when we get to Chittagong what the wicket’s like and make an assessment then.
Obviously disappointing not to get the result we would have liked here but we’re obviously going to be looking forward to Chittagong and hopefully we’ll be able to right a few of the wrongs that we made out here.
Australian captain termed Bangladesh as a dangerous side after Tigers shocked them to notched a 20 runs victory over the Aussies in the first Test match at Mirpur on Wednesday.
Smith in post match interview said asked how he will evaluate Bangladesh, He said, “They have certainly come a long way over the last couple of years. I think they’re a dangerous side, particularly here at home as we’ve seen. They’ve just beaten us; they obviously beat England not too long ago, so they’re a team that’s confident in these conditions.
They’ve got some good players. I thought that Tamim Iqbal looked very good at the top of the order, chanced his arm and played some good aggressive cricket. Shakib played particularly well in the first innings and bowled well in both innings as well, so their experienced players really stood up in this game for them. I thought they played very well.
I thought Shakib he played quite aggressively in the first innings. Any width he got, he put away. We were probably a little bit short and wide, our fast bowlers, and our spinners probably just didn’t hit their lengths quite as consistently as we would have liked.
I think that’s the key to what Shakib does really well. His lengths are spectacular and he lets the ball do whatever it needs to do off a good length. It’s the hardest ball to play, the one that’s on a good length, and I thought our spinners were a little bit inconsistent with their lengths.
Asked was it a very close match, Smith said, “Obviously it was a pretty close game. I think the first innings, 260 and that partnership as I said with Shakib and Tamim that really set them up in the first innings.
Asked about selection in Chittagong, Smith said “We’ve obviously got a few options here. We’ve got the options to do what we want to do in the second test match. We will have to wait and see when we get to Chittagong what the wicket’s like and make an assessment then.
Obviously disappointing not to get the result we would have liked here but we’re obviously going to be looking forward to Chittagong and hopefully we’ll be able to right a few of the wrongs that we made out here.
