Bangladesh registered their first Test draw in West Indies 10 years ago under the captaincy of Habibul Bashar. One of the most successful captain and batsman in Bangladesh’s 14-year Test history, Bashar was also a part of the contingent that returned from the Caribbean islands yesterday, but this time he acted as the team manager and came home with handful of disappointments.
Bashar’s fighting knock of 113 in the first innings of the first Test in 2004 enabled the Tigers to force a memorable draw against the full strength Caribbean side. He retired from international cricket in 2008 and played domestic cricket for two more years before he was appointed as one of the three national selectios.
“Actually its two different roles (player and manager) and you cannot compare the work. However, we never expected such performance and we all are disappointed after this tour. We kept on repeating some mistakes throughout the tour, but I am sure we will overcome them in future,” said Bashar.
Bangladesh lost the first Test match by 10 wickets in spite of playing eight genuine batsman in the XI. “We tried to experiment during the first period of the tour as the team was under performing. And the previous team combination was also not working for us so we tried to do something new which did not clicked for us,” he said. The 42-year-old informed they are giving time for the coach Chandika Hathurusingha to settle in and try his strategies.
