Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque on Sunday, November 24, said his team needs to work on its mental strength ahead of their long Test season next year after the Tigers’ batting was brutally exposed by Indian pacers during their latest whitewash in the two-match Test series in India.
They suffered massive defeat in both Tests against India – lost the Indore Test by an innings and 130 runs, while crushed by an innings and 46 runs in the first-ever Day/Night Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and Mominul feels there are a lot of areas to improve in the five-day format.
In the historic Day-Night Test in India, Bangladesh managed just 106 runs in the first innings while India declared on 347/9 with a lead of 241 runs.
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In the second innings, the hapless visitors were reduced to 14/3 and went on to lost the pink-ball game by an innings and 46 runs on Day 3 with India's pace trio of Ishant Sharma (9 wickets), Umesh Yadav (8) and Mohammed Shami (2) took all the 19 wickets in Kolkata as the hosts completed a 2-0 series whitewash on Sunday.
Haque further added that Bangladesh needs to play more Tests against the top sides to improve their game in the longest format of the game. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Mominul said: “As a team, we have not been able to play well, be it batting or bowling. There are a lot of areas to improve in. If we improve, we can give a good account of ourselves next year. We have about 10 Tests lined up in 2020.”
The newly-appointed Bangladesh captain continued, “You must be aware that we don't play Tests frequently. We will play about 10 Tests next year, and hopefully, we will put up a much-improved show. We all need to prepare better mentally.
"I hope we will become mentally stronger and improve day by day. But we will need some time. The message to our young batsmen is to learn well from this series... Results will come in the future.”
Meanwhile, the skipper didn’t make any excuses for their defeat in their maiden Day-Night Test, admitting the tourists failed the pink-ball challenge in India.
On being asked if it was Bangladesh Cricket Board's mistake to accept India’s proposal for a pink-ball test without any preparation, Mominul said: “I don’t think it was a wrong decision. We had to play today or tomorrow, so it's fine. We may have failed, but we had to start somewhere.”
The 28-year-old further added, “We failed in this match but we had to play it at some point of time. It was a great learning experience. This was India’s maiden pink-ball test too. So I don’t think there was any problem with that decision.”
The all-rounder signed off by saying, “There is no point to give an excuse. Losers give an excuse. As a team, we have not been able to put up a good show. We batted poorly. There is a lot to learn from this series. Struggle makes one perfect. It's about learning rather than feeling disappointed.”
(With PTI Inputs)
