Tigers defensive mindset stuns fans
Spinners opt to bowl in leg-stump for most of the time
Sports Reporter, Chittagong
Bangladesh were expected to go for aggressive brand of cricket as they promised ahead of the Test but their approach and body language on the second day of the series-deciding game did give an indication of defensive mindset.
Despite leading the two-match series, Bangladesh made it clear that they wouldnt play safe cricket as they want to inflict a 2-0 whitewash on the visitors to make the feat more memorable one.
However the way Mushfiqur Rahim managed his bowlers and made the field placement when Australia were batting on the second cannot be described in other way apart from being safe.
The mindset was evidenced in employing four fielders at the fence when there were only six overs left in the match. During this time, in most of the cases fielding captain normally put fielders in the close to create more pressure, knowing that batsmen would like to see off the final few overs.
Being safe was a Plan B but this cannot be termed illogical as a draw can ensure them an historic series win against Australia but the approach led to several questions. Question rose whether Mushfiqur Rahim couldnt trust his bowlers and the other one was whether the Bangladeshi spinners became ineffective because of the pitch which wasnt as conducive as the Dhaka pitch was. The body language that was believed to be the prelude of famous Dhaka Test victory also didnt look good enough.
Bangladesh are not used to play the second Test with a leading cricketing nation going by 1-0 lead. Question also rose whether it was an added pressure or whether they didnt have enough in the tank to carry on with the momentum required to apply for desperate win.
In the Dhaka Test, Bangladesh attacked relentlessly, giving the Aussie no respite but this time Australia came up with certain plan and determined attitude to level the series and they so far executed it well, which probably led Bangladesh making drastic change in their game plan.
Bangladesh reduced the visitors to five for one, courtesy to Mushfiqur Rahims superb catch behind the wicket that ended Matt Renshaws innings early. It was the time when they could apply more pressure on the visitors to make it their day. However as Warner and Steven Smith defied them, learning from their mistakes in the first innings, Bangladesh became impatient. It was the arena where Mushfiqur Rahim and his bowlers lack of imagination was exposed widely. The bowlers even didnt learn from Nathan Lyon who still excelled without much assistance from the pitch.
While Nathan Lyon bowled in off and middle-stump area, Bangladesh bowlers opted to bowl in the leg stump for most of the time as the ploy looked to be to stem free flowing of runs by the opponent.
Lyons ball were skidding with his arm ball being the most deceptive one while it was evident that he had the guts to challenge the technical shortcomings of Tigers batsmen. But Bangladesh spinners including Shakib Al Hasan looked interested to play with the patience of Australian batsmen.
Mushfiqur Rahim probably felt Smith and Warner would come into their trap as they get rusty if they are not scoring runs but what they did not knew was Warner would come up with an innings of his lifetime.
Instead of putting close in fielders for a considerable amount of time, Mushfiqur decided to spread the fielders, mulling that Warner would go after the bowlers with trademark big shots and eventually land up in one of the fielders grasp at deep.
Bangladesh batsman Nasir Hossain however had no reservation to admit their defensive approach in an attempt to test the temperament of the opponent.
Yes we did bowl in leg stump area consciously as we believed that by stemming the runs flow, we can create chances as both of them likes to play shots, Nasir said, adding You can say it was a defensive approach.
We kept fielders in the deep as we felt that they would go for their shots, he added
Nasir said wicket played a big role in taking this plan of action as there was not much turn and bounce offered here like Dhaka and the only place was the rough outside the wicket.
The wicket did not have much turn like the Mirpur wicket. The ball in the stumps were not turning much while it was easy for the batsman to score runs from those deliveries so we intended to bowl at the rough in a bid to extract the turn, he informed.
The answer in itself suggests that Bangladesh spinners were not as confident as Lyon with their bowling ability in a relatively batting friendly wicket.
Warner came up with a brilliant stuff to make sure that the visitors are comfortably placed and according to Nasir it played a big part in the second day.
Usually Warner do not bat in this manner and always likes to play shots but today he was totally different and batted slowly, said Nasir.
SCOREBOARD
Bangladesh first innings
Tamim lbw b Lyon 9
Soumya lbw b Lyon 33
I Kayes lbw b Lyon 4
Mominul lbw b Lyon 31
Shakib c Wade b Agar 24
Mushfiqur b Lyon 68
Sabbir st Wade b Lyon 66
Nasir c Wade b Agar 45
Mehedi run out 11
Taijul c Smith b Lyon 9
Mustafizur not out 0
Extras (b5) 5
Total (all out, 113.2 overs) 305
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-21, 3-70,
4-85, 5-117, 6-222, 7-265, 8-293, 9-296, 10-305.
BOWLING O M R W
P Cummins 22 5 46 0
N Lyon 36.2 7 94 7
S OKeefe 23 0 79 0
A Agar 23 9 52 2
G Maxwell 4 0 13 0
H Cartwright 5 1 16 0
Australia 1st innings
M Renshaw c Mushfiq b Mustafizur 4
D Warner not out 88
S Smith b Taijul 58
P Handscomb not out 69
Extras (b4, lb2) 6
Total (2 wickets, 64 overs) 225
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-98.
BOWLING O M R W
Mehedi 20 2 53 0
Mustafizur 10 0 45 1
Shakib 15 0 52 0
Taijul 15 1 50 1
Nasir 1 0 4 0
Mominul 2 0 6 0
Sabbir 1 0 9 0
