Bangladesh spinners have serious quality: Sunil Joshi

Former India spinner Sunil Joshi, who is currently serving as a spin consultant for Bangladesh, lavished praises on the Bangladesh spin trio of Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Taijul Islam. Spinners played a leading role in Bangladesh’s first victory against Australia in white fennels, picking all 19 wickets in the game, the other one being a run-out.

‘Australia has failed to pick a particular delivery’

Mirpur witnessed a thriller as the visitor’s tail fought hard but eventually succumbed to a 20-run loss which followed jubilant celebrations on the ground by the home side. The Tigers had hired the services of Sunil Joshi in the lead up to the series and his contribution has been a telling one. Joshi highlighted that Australia batsmen struggled to pick a particular delivery against India and he asked his spinners to follow the same modus operandi.

“There is one delivery that the Australians are struggling to pick since the India series. I won’t say which one it is till the series ends because I don’t want the Aussies to come up with a counter-plan, but I picked it up when they were playing against India. I have told the Bangladesh bowlers to keep bowling that de livery and it’s working,” Joshi said.

Bangladesh spinners watched videos of Ashwin-Jadeja

Australia’s sub continent record in the last 12 months is appalling. In the winter tour of India, Steven Smith led from the front to win the first Test in Pune but that still remains the only win Australia has produced in the last 8 sub continental Tests. The duo of Ashwin and Jadeja ran havoc against the Australians, something which Bangladesh spinners are taking head from.

“Of course they have seen videos of the way Jadeja and Ashwin bowled during that series. And don’t forget these Bangladeshi spinners themselves have serious quality,” Joshi revealed.

Joshi, a winner of 15 Test caps besides playing 69 ODIs for India, was pleased with the performance of Shakib Al Hasan. The all-rounder picked 10 wickets in the game to go with his first innings 84 which laid the foundation of a thumping win. “There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that he is the leader of the bowling unit,” he signed off.

With just a solitary Test to go in the series, Australia faces the unusual prospect of getting whitewashed against Bangladesh. Former skipper Allan Border has called for dropping Mathew Wade and asking part-timer Peter Handscomb to do the job behind the stumps in the final Test which kicks off on Monday in Chittagong.