Bangladesh batting consultant Jamie Siddons has been left furiously disappointed as he took a swipe at his charges for their failure in the ongoing second and final Test match against visitors India at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Winning the toss, captain Shakib al Hasan opted to bat first.
However, the hosts couldn't justify the decision after getting dismissed for just 227 runs in the first innings.
The wicket at the SBNS is famous for helping the spinners but Bangladesh Thursday lost six wickets to fast bowlers Umesh Yadav [four] and Jaydev Unadkat [two].
At stumps on day one, India trailed by 208 runs.
Siddons, while speaking to the media, displayed frustration for the batters' failure, despite a lot of hard work in the nets.
The former Australian cricketer also talked about the dismissals and mental aspect of the Bangladesh batters.
“It is very frustrating. We work hard. We talk about when you're in, you need to stay in. You have to make sure of a big score when you get a start. It was a little bit like Chittagong [first Test], three or four guys getting 20s. Other guys getting 15s and 16s, and only one guy doing the job for us. We are not getting match-winning scores doing that. People made mental errors again when they were set. The ball was spinning but the pace bowlers weren't getting off a great deal. To let Umesh, get five [four] wickets was very disappointing,” said Siddons.
“I have been here six-seven months. We talk about it a lot. We practice a lot. But when the batter is in the middle, only one person can play the shot for them. If they can do it to get 28, they have to keep doing it for another 28. We seem to change our game, go up a gear. Shakib [al Hasan] walks down the wicket, Liton [Das] tries to hit one a little bit harder, Mehedi [Hasan Miraz] plays a rash shot. They walk off shaking their head, (thinking) ‘why did I do that?' but they have to take that responsibility. They have to stay in the same gear for six hours. We talk about batting till the end of the day and punching gloves and walking off with your teammate. Not getting a flashy 28 or 30. It keeps happening,” he added.
Also Read: India dismiss Bangladesh for 227
The most disappointing dismissal in the Bangladesh innings was perhaps that of skipper Shakib.
The left-handed batter, on 16 runs, looked to go over mid-off on a length ball around off from Umesh, but failed to get his timing right.
The ball had simply lobbed towards Cheteshwar Pujara who took it reverse cups.
“It is disappointing as senior players are making mental errors. He [Shakib] was walking down the wicket to spinners and pace bowlers anyway, just to change their lengths. He was worried by their lengths, so he tried to change it. Straight after lunch, the bowler is also going to be rusty. He could have got some bad bowling if he stayed in the crease. It was his decision. It was frustrating for me to watch players make those mistakes,” said Siddons.
Former captain Mominul Haque returned to the side after being dropped on tour of the West Indies earlier this year on the back of below-par form.
The left-handed batter remained benched in the first Test against India too before getting the opportunity in Mirpur.
Mominul flourished with 84 off 157 deliveries laced with 12 boundaries and one over boundary, the best contribution in the Bangladesh innings.
Questioned why Mominul was left out in the Chittagong Test, Siddons explained, “It is the selectors' decision, but Mominul didn't score over 10 runs in the four innings for Bangladesh A. We gave him a rest. We had to work on a few things in Chittagong. We gave him a bit of time to get back into the swing of things, and forget about those failures. Get ready to play again. Our No 3 spot is a worry, so we put him in. It worked really well. He played fantastic.”
