Mominul urges consistency over the five days of Test cricket

CHATTOGRAM —Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque urged his players to remain consistent over the 15 sessions of the five-day of Test cricket as his side gears up for the opening match in two-match Test series against Pakistan, starting tomorrow.

“In Test cricket, the momentum could shift in just one session. If you win 12 sessions in four days but then lose three sessions on the last day, you could end up losing the match,” Mominul said here today.

“So what I want to say is that we have to be very consistent throughout the five days of the test. We have a plan in which we will try to stick to it. Whatever happened before this Test is past now and we are now focused on playing good cricket over the five days.”

Bangladesh came off the series with eight straight T20 defeats, including a 3-0 loss against Pakistan.  According to Mominul, the dismal T20 record won’t affect them since the format is entirely different.

“I don’t think that will have a negative impact as the format is completely different. In Test cricket, you have to be consistent.”

But Bangladesh’s Test record in this year also is not convincing enough. Early in the year, they lost two Tests against West Indies at home. Both of the Tests, they lost from a favorable position. In Sri Lanka, the Tigers lost two-match series by 1-0 before securing a 220-run win in Zimbabwe.

Moreover Bangladesh will be without the service of their three key players. Ace allrounder Shakib Al Hasan failed to recover from the hamstring injury he sustained during the Twenty20 World Cup. Opener Tamim Iqbal opted out of the series due to injury and Mahmudullah Riyad who hit 150 not out in Bangladesh’s last test against Zimbabwe, had announced his retirement from this format.

Mominul is unfazed by the absence of the senior trio, saying that “We have to play with whatever resources we have.”

 “There’s no point in thinking who is in the team and who is not. These seniors had a lot of contribution for Bangladesh cricket. But life goes on.”

Bangladesh are hardly concerned with their batting in Test cricket even though in T20 cricket, the batting was miserable. Mominul himself has been in a good form and also the Chattogram is lucky ground for him as he scored seven centuries here out of his 10.

The bowling could be a concern but Mominul said he has a lot of confidence in the bowlers.

“Mustafizur played last Test match a year ago while Taskin was out with injury. But we have back up players. We have Test regulars like Rahi and Ebadot. Rahi was our highest wicket-taker in the last edition of the World Test Championship. We have spinners like Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam. So I am confident with our bowling line up.”BSS