Tigers bowling, fielding frustrate again
Warm-up match with India-A ends in draw
Sports Reporter
A lackluster bowling and a wretched fielding effort kept Bangladesh at bay before their two-match warm-up match against India ended in a draw yesterday at Gymkhana Ground, Hyderabad.
Even though the pitch offered something for the pacers, Bangladeshs pace bowling attack, barring Shuvashis Roy, failed to cash on as India A compiled 461 for eight before declaring the innings.
Three batsmen got century, piling a host of agony on Bangladesh bowlers. Two of the centurionopener Kirit Panchal and Shreyas Iyer retired after getting the century while No. 8 batsman Vijay Shankar made a whirlwind century, exposing the vulnerability of Bangladeshs bowling.
While the bowlers were clueless, the fielders dropped catches for quite a several times, continuing the ordeal that started in New Zealand.
Shuvashis scalped three for 57 in 16 overs. Taijul Islam also claimed three but conceded 141 runs in 28 overs. India A picked up at 5.12 run rate on the second day after resuming the day on 91 for one.
Panchal hit 103 off 148 with 11 boundaries and Shreyas was exact 100 in 92 balls with 12 fours and four sixes. Shankar brought up his century off 81 balls before India declared the innings.
Once you are in the game, catches are going to be dropped, Bangladesh fast bowling coach Courtney Walsh told Cricinfo. I told them not to worry about it. Think about the next one. Nobody drops catches purposely. It is part of cricket. Spectacular catches are going to be taken at some point of time as well. So you have to take the rough with the smooth. They have accepted, taken it on the chin and moved on. They are not frustrated with it. The catch go down, you gotta go again.
But Walsh was happy with the effort from his young pace attack. I was impressed in New Zealand, he said. They are a work in progress. [India] is another challenge. The experience that they gained there [in New Zealand] will help them here. Theyve been working pretty hard here as well.
We are trying to strike the right balance and get them match-ready. The one problem is inexperience. They havent played a lot of Tests between them. The board are trying to give them more exposure. It is a step in the right direction. It will be better for the team to play more outside home.
Walsh said he was seeing good signs in the group that has come to India.
They are very impressive. Even those not here - Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman - they were prepared to put in the work in New Zealand. They have gone back to the BCL to get match confidence. Guys who are here are prepared to put in all the work, all the time.
Even the youngster who has come just now, he [Abu Jayed] is prepared to work as well. These are the good signs.
Taskin was one of two fast bowlers rested from the practice game against India A, but has done enough in his debut series in New Zealand to warrant an automatic place in the Test XI. Given his performance in the limited-overs format for Bangladesh, he is also the natural leader of this Test attack.
He is very exciting, Walsh said. He has pace. He is young and full of energy. He is explosive. On his day, he could be a captains dream. These games will give him more experience.
Though the match was a one-innings affair, Bangladesh came to bat in the second innings and tried to amend the mistakes they had done in the first innings. The good thing was the form of Tamim Iqbal as the Bangladeshs best batman was 42 not out. Soumya Sarkar scored 25. Bangladesh were 73 for two in 15 overs before the umpire called it a day.
SCOREBOARD
Bangladesh first innings: 224/8 dec
India A 1st innings:
P Panchal retired out 103
A Mukund c Kayes b Subashis 16
S Iyer retired out 100
I Jaggi c b Subashis 23
R Pant c Shafiul b Subashis 19
I Kishan st Mushfiqur b Taijul 11
H Pandya lbw b Taijul 7
V Shankar not out 103
N Saini c Mehedi b Taijul 66
J Yadav not out 6
Extras (lb 5, nb 2) 7
Total (8 wickets dec; 90 overs) 461
Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-200, 3-243,
4-267, 5-276, 6-278, 7-287, 8-402.
BOWLING O M R W
Shafiul 10 1 50 0
A Jayed 13 1 72 0
Subashis 16 1 57 3
Mehedi 16 1 92 0
Taijul 28 3 141 3
Soumya 3 1 13 0
M Riyad 3 0 24 0
Mominul 1 0 7 0
Bangladesh 2nd innings
Tamim not out 42
Soumya st Kishan b Yadav 2
Mominul c Jaggi b Yadav 0
M Riyad not out 1
Extras (lb 3, nb 2) 5
Total (2 wickets; 15 overs) 73
Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-71
BOWLING O M R W
H Pandya 4 0 20 0
J Yadav 6 1 36 0
S Nadeem 3 1 12 0
K Yadav 2 1 2 2
Result: Match drawn
