Bowling long spells in Tests is a problem for Bangladesh bowlers: Mashrafe Mortaza

Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza feels that the inability of the fast bowlers to bowl long spells in Tests has always been a problem for his country mates. The Test team which is competing currently in South Africa lost the first match by a whopping 333 runs at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom. Despite winning the toss, they chose to bowl first and the bowlers failed to bowl in right areas which did not help their cause either.

The skipper Mushfiqur Rahim criticized the bowlers as well after the match and hoped for a better performance from them in the second Test. The visitors now have to win the final game to level the two-match Test series which will be an uphill task for them given the fact that the opposition skipper Faf Du Plessis has demanded the bouncy wicket in Bloemfontein. However, the hosts too are without their pace spearhead Morne Morkel who did the maximum damage at the top in the first Test match.

Our performance has certainly improved

Mashrafe Mortaza believes that bowling long spells in cricket has been a concern for a long time now Bangladesh. But he also supported his team by saying that the problem could not be solved overnight. He also claimed that the pitch for the second Test match would be more challenging for Mushfiqur and his men as it is expected that it will offer more bounce.

“From what I understand, Faf du Plessis wants more bounce in the wicket. Naturally it will be more challenging. Bowling in Test cricket had always been a worry for us. In Tests you have to bowl long spells and get the breakthroughs as well. If you see our recent success against England and Australia it is the spinners who dictated terms. So it is impossible to change our bowling in the Test format within a night,” he said on Tuesday as quoted by Cricbuzz.

The fast bowler also urged the bowlers in the domestic circuit to bowl long spells frequently to get acquainted with the overseas conditions. “Those who are playing the domestic league need to bowl long spells and that too for a considerable amount of time. It is not that because you have bowled well in a couple of matches you are ready for Tests, because it is not an easy place,” Mashrafe added. He also acknowledged the performance of his team and said that they only had one bad day with the bat and had fared reasonably well in the first four days.

“I think we should give them credit for the way they played in the first four days. Our performance is certainly better than what we did earlier in South Africa. So you can take positives, and to be honest, a lot of teams with much better batting depth than ours struggle in South Africa. In cricket, a bad day can come, but that does not imply all your hard work is washed away,” he concluded.