Whatever reputation Bangladesh cricket had earned, in the last few years before coming to South Africa, has taken a severe beating now. In the last few years, Bangladesh had done a world of good to their reputation as one of the most improved nations in cricket. The Tigers registered ODI series wins over the likes of India, New Zealand and South Africa in addition to making it to the semifinal of this year’s Champions Trophy.
They also defeated Australia, England and Sri Lanka in Tests but their performance in the ongoing tour of South Africa has nearly undone all of their good work. The Asian team was thrashed in the two-Test series, and their miseries were further compounded when they lost the third ODI on Sunday (October 22) to get whitewashed in the three-match series.
After the bowlers came up with yet another poor performance, conceding 369 runs in the allotted 50 overs, the batsmen continued their poor show as Bangladesh were all out for just 169 runs inside 41 overs.
Speaking after another demoralising loss, captain Mashrafe Mortaza admitted that the tour ‘has been alarming for Bangladesh cricket’.
“This tour has been alarming for Bangladesh cricket and with more bilateral tours and the World Cup coming up we, as a playing unit, have to look after these things quickly,” Mortaza said. “We haven’t adjusted to the conditions. But it has been happening since the Champions Trophy. We have to improve quickly or the overseas bilateral series in the future will become very difficult.”
Talking about the team’s consistent failures with the bat and ball, he said:
“I think we are not having enough confidence to bat and bowl. Neither the batsmen nor the bowlers took up responsibilities. I think we have to find out from particular players why we are unable to play better and I don’t think this can be solved by training a lot in South Africa in the coming days. This is a long-term issue, a long process.”
Surprisingly, the Bangladesh batsmen failed to put up a good show on pitches which were ideal for batting. Mortaza said his bowlers need to learn on how to do well on pitches which offer very little assistance for them.
“We have to be prepared to play on these types of wickets the next time we go on a tour. It has been a tough tour. I should have been more aggressive, like I was in the Champions Trophy. Our bowlers have to learn what to bowl where 300-350 runs are scored quite regularly. There will be flat wickets in some places and they have to come up with some kind of a plan to earn success,” he said.