Bangladesh Test captain Mominul Haque cited batting failure as an unit behind the team’s defeat in the second and final Test match against hosts Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh Monday conceded a 209-run defeat to Sri Lanka at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, and also lost the series 1-0.
Left-handed batsman Mominul also said losing the toss on this kind of pitch as another reason for the defeat.
Batting first, Sri Lanka posted 493 for seven before declaring, to which Bangladesh failed to reply strongly.
The visitors in reply to Sri Lanka's mammoth total were able to put up just 251 runs, and were troubled mostly by debutant left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama, who picked up six wickets in the innings.
With a 242-run lead, Sri Lanka added 194 to the total before declaring the innings at the loss of nine wickets, and setting 437 for Bangladesh to chase.
But as it happened, Bangladesh's batting was torn apart by Jayawickrama once again as the 22-year old bagged another five wickets, complemented by off-spinner Ramesh Mendis’ four scalps.
Also Read: Bangladesh lose by 209 runs
Bangladesh could put up only 227 on the board with Mushfiqur Rahim’s 40 being the top score in the innings as Jayawickrama finished with a record 11 wickets on debut.
“It is not only about the left-arm spinner (Jayawickrama) doing well. If you are not batting well any bowler will do well against you, let it be a left- or right-arm spinner. I think we failed to bat well as a unit. Only Tamim (Iqbal) bhai had batted well in the first innings and got us a good start. Other than that, none of us were able to bat well,” said Mominul at the post-match conference Monday.
“I couldn’t bat well too, couldn’t put up long innings. If we could have batted three of four sessions, like we batted six sessions in the first Test, things would have been different. If we could have batted at least three or four sessions in this game, considering the condition, the game could have been different then. The pacers bowled well in this game and the spinners did not get enough help in the early stage of the game. I think the toss was vital too but then again we should have batted well. It is simply our fault,” the diminutive batsman added.
Mominul amid the defeat is content with the positives from the game.
The top-order batsman highlighted the team effort that Bangladesh had displayed in the first match of the series, and it was yet another indication that the team do well when it plays as an unit.
“Of course there are positives to take. We lost the series doesn’t mean we lost everything. I know there will be some criticism coming towards us but still there are positive to look at,” said Mominul, who totalled 231 runs in the two-match series.
“I always wanted to play as a team and we did that in the first game. We had come into this series having failed as a team in the last one or two Tests. We played as a team in the first game and it is evident that we play well only when we perform as a team and when many of us contribute for the cause. If you see, Tamim bhai has two 90-run innings and one 70. (Nazmul Hossain) Shanto scored 163, Mushfiq bhai and Liton (Das) scored half-centuries. Taijul (Islam) got five wickets. The most important thing was for a pace bowler to perform, which everyone was waiting for, which Taskin (Ahmed) did. He has grown really well,” Mominul explained.
Also Read: First innings batting put Bangladesh behind, thinks Najmul
Bangladesh earned their first World Test Championship points through the draw in the first match.
The 20 points earned from the match will however, not matter given that the competition has already found its two finalists in India and New Zealand.
Bangladesh played seven Tests which are part of the championship, and lost six of them.
Bangladesh have come a long way in one-day internationals but are an irregular performer when it comes to Test cricket.
“One day cricket is a different ball game. You need time to improve in Test and need to play regularly. Test is tough for any junior cricketer, experience is important here. Those who are not being able to perform regularly should be given more time. I do not have much to think about it, they know what they need to do,” said Mominul.
“There is not much difference in the matches we played in Test Championship and those played before that. We couldn’t dominate even a few days when we played Test cricket in Dhaka and Chittagong (against the West Indies) after a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We performed a bit better in this series (against Sri Lanka) I think. It might that we did not get enough championship points but there isn’t much difference with how we played before the championship,” he added.
Bangladesh cricket team are scheduled to return home today and following a short break join the ongoing preliminary squad camp for the upcoming ODI home series against Sri Lanka later this month.