Bangladesh Test captain Mominul Haque pressed on the need for his team to learn from the defeat in the first Test match and rectify their mistakes in the second and final Test against the West Indies, beginning Thursday at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.
Hosts Bangladesh were left shocked at the way the West Indies made a comeback on the final day of the Chittagong Test, and clinched a historic three-wicket win.
Bangladesh were in the driving seat for most parts of the game in the first four days, and had set a 395-run target for the visiting side to chase.
The West Indies, defying all odds, pulled off a jaw-dropping victory chasing down the target as debutant Kyle Mayers registered an unbeaten double hundred.
Mayers was key for the Windies as the left-handed batsman resisted the Bangladesh spinners in his rare outing in sub-continental condition.
“Obviously it’s a learning experience for us, we are learning to shine in pressure, but I don’t think the West Indies outplayed us completely, as we also are to blame for missing several opportunities and catches. Hopefully the mistakes will not be repeated (Thursday),” said Mominul in the pre-match presser Wednesday.
Bangladesh slip cordon and wicket-keeper Liton Das put the final touch to their preparation BCB
Mominul said fighting it out on the last day of a Test is a rare experience for Bangladesh.
The left-handed batsman wants to put behind the ill-experience from the game, take positives and look forward to a win in the final game of the series, and avoid a whitewash.
“We are letting bygones be bygones as we need to be positive about the future right now. The team are looking forward to it, so hope to have a positive outcome in the second Test,” said Mominul.
Bangladesh will be missing the services of ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan due to injury.
There will always be a demand for a player like Shakib in the side, but Mominul is not in favor of focusing on what the team are missing out on, rather they want to focus on the task ahead.
“It all depends on the mindset, because we have won matches without him (Shakib) while we lost games despite his availability. We have to play with our available resource. Not having Shakib bhai is obviously a big loss for us, but I’d like to go with whatever I have within my reach,” the Bangladesh Test captain added.