Hosts Bangladesh should not only focus on the spin threat when they take on Afghanistan in the upcoming home series, said Bangladesh assistant coach Nic Pothas.
While speaking to the media in the sidelines of the ongoing national team camp at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium Thursday, Pothas informed that focusing on one particular threat can backfire.
Bangladesh had suffered a humiliating defeat in the one-off Test match against Afghanistan in 2019 after succumbing to the slow bowlers.
Star Afghan spinner Rashid Khan had bagged 11 wickets in that game with the other spinners complementing him.
Pothas, who got appointed to the Bangladesh team in April this year, emphasized that they should not overlook the potential threat that Afghanistan have in their pace unit.
“They have a top spin attack, so the challenge is exciting. The excitement is in solving the problem. Having said that, you have to play the seam before you get to the spin. We can't focus all our attention on spin and before we know it, we are five down against seam,” said former South African cricketer Pothas.
“We will do our analysis and research. Come the time, Test match is like a game of chess. We have to make sure we have solutions for what they bring. It is exciting,” he added.
Bangladesh have come a long way in terms of batting in one-day internationals and to some extent, Twenty20 internationals.
They are however, still lagging behind in the longer version and on most occasions lost due to batting failures.
The scenario is similar for the Bangladesh A team in the ongoing three-match four-day series at home against West Indies A, despite having batters from the national dressing room.
“I have got a magic wand. I will just wave the magic wand. Very quickly we will make batsmen…I am joking. These things take time. I cannot come into a new culture and suddenly just start to change things. I have to watch the batsmen for a period. We have to observe how they go about their things,” said Pothas.
“Every country goes through waves. In your opinion, your guys are not doing as well as you'd like them to do in Tests. That wave will come again. Having seen their ability in the camp and away, there's no reason why we can't get better. But it is international cricket. Some teams are at the top of the world one moment. Some teams are not where they'd like to be. We will ride the wave, but I have to take my time to know the players,” he added.
Afghanistan cricket team are scheduled to reach Dhaka on June 10 and feature in the only Test in Mirpur from June 14-18.
There will be a break to the series for Eid-ul-Azha during which Afghanistan will travel to India to contest three ODIs against the hosts.
Afghanistan will return to Bangladesh on July 1 to complete the series and in this phase play three ODIs scheduled to be held in Chittagong on July 5, 8 and 11 respectively.
Both Bangladesh and Afghanistan will then travel to Sylhet to fight it out in the two T20Is on July 14 and 16 respectively.