While Bangladesh’s bowlers took a pounding at the hands of Mayank Agarwal in Indore, Abu Jayed stood tall and left his mark. He had a direct hand in the first five dismissals, the last being a catch at the boundary to dismiss Agarwal for 243.
In a bid to improve even further, the 26-year-old sought advice from Mohammed Shami, who stood out as India’s best bowler in the first Test, with returns of 3/27 and 4/31 from two innings.
“I spoke with [Mohammad] Shami bhai yesterday [Saturday]. There are some similarities between him and me since we both use the seam. I have seen him bowl a lot of times and I paid extra attention to how he was bowling. I have compared his height to mine to find out if he is taller than me or of equal height. Then I figured maybe I could bowl like him,” Jayed said.
For the young fast bowler now the focus shifts to the second Test which is the Day/Night Test at the Eden Gardens.
“Our squad did have a practice session with the pink ball back at Dhaka but I was playing at NCL (National Cricket League) at that time. We have a practice session, after bowling with it I will understand the difference.
“I will discuss about our strategy [with the pink ball] with my coaches. As the ball is a new one, we also need to measure the amount of movement the ball gives off. I should also get a hold of the amount of swing that is on offer.”
