Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo was disappointed at the inconsistent batting of the batters in the first Test against India which they eventually lost by a huge 188-run margin at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium today.
He said the batters even couldn’t try to find a way out the slump, they faced in the both innings of the Test.
Bangladesh experienced a batting collapse and were bowled out for 150 in the first innings, which proved to be fatal at the end.
“There is a whole host of players at the top five or six at the moment who haven’t performed as well as I would have hoped and haven’t been consistent and that’s disappointing,” Domingo said here today.
“We know India are a good side but once again one really bad session with the bat has destroyed our chances in this Test match.”
India put up 404 in their first innings and took a handy 254-run lead. They didn’t enforce follow-on and chose to bat again to bat out Bangladesh from the game. Opener Shubhman Gill hit a maiden century and scored 110 while Cheteshwar Pujara followed his 90 with 102 not in the second innings as India declared their second innings at 258-2, setting Bangladesh a 523-run for an unlikely victory.
Riding on opener Zakir Hasan’s ton on debut, Bangladesh made a good start but again experienced a middle order collapse and got dismissed for 324.
“I know 400 is a good score but it’s manageable in Chattogram. There is no way we should be bowled out for 150 in the first innings and that’s where we lost us the game. Some really poor decision with the batters and that’s the most disappointing thing for me,” Domingo remarked.
Having said that, he showered debutant Zakir Hasan with enormous praise, saying that the youngster saved the face of Bangladesh from ultimate blushes.
“There is obviously a lack of confidence in the top-order there is no doubt about that. A young player (Zakir) who hasn’t played a Test before with us and he is confident at the moment and come in and shown us how to do it, playing really well,” Domingo said.
“He has obviously come in to the Test match from the A side and also domestic performances. The rest of the guys obviously confidence is pretty low at the moment and not managing to find a way out of the slump at the moment.”
Domingo also indicated that captain Shakib Al Hasan only could play as a batter in the second Test, starting from December 22 in Dhaka as he is unable to bowl due to his shoulder and rib injury. Shakib didn’t bowl a single of India’s second innings.
“Shakib could play as a batter. Obviously he didn’t bowl enough overs cause he’s still struggling with his shoulders, there’s bruising. Obviously a big blow for us since it leaves us with four bowlers and then Ebadot breaks down and we’re stuck with three bowlers,” Domingo informed.
“It’s a very difficult side balancing at the moment. Our batting order is not confident and we also got bowlers who can’t bat. Not their fault because they are not there to bat but it leaves us a bit vulnerable with only playing four bowlers.”
