Cricket News By TODAYLIVESCORE.INFO - Guys showed a great deal of character and skills: Ashwell Prince. Liton Kumar Das remained unbeaten on 113, while Mushfiqur Rahim was not out on 82.
Liton Kumar Das remained unbeaten on 113, while Mushfiqur Rahim was not out on 82.
Bangladesh batting consultant Ashwell Prince said on Friday (November 26) that he is happy to see his charges fight back after being pushed to the wall in the opening Test against Pakistan. Bangladesh ended the day on 253 for 4 on the back of Liton Kumar Das's unbeaten on 113 and Mushfiqur Rahim's 82 not out when the umpires decided to call it a day due to bad light.
Liton and Mushfiqur, who got together when Bangladesh were 49 for 4 in 16.2 overs, batted out the day to share a 204-run partnership – the highest fifth-wicket stand at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.
“I think the guys showed a great deal of character and skills after we were 40-odd for four today,” said Prince. “Mushfiqur was very patient at the start. He is an experienced player. A lot of younger players might have panicked with the low strike-rate, and not being able to get the ball away. But he is an experienced Test player. He stayed calm. He knew runs can come in faster periods in Tests. He played a great innings.
“Liton and Mushfiqur continued the plan of hitting straight down the ground. It is important in red-ball cricket. You want to play as straight as possible when the ball is at the stumps. We saw great composure and skills in this performance,” he said.
“I am proud of the character that they showed with their backs to the wall. Sometimes, as a coach, you looks at the technical attributes of the players. But I was pleased with the mental application. 50 for 4 is a tough time to come to the crease in a Test match. When you find yourself in a tough situation, you have to be mentally strong. You have to believe you can bat your team out of that position and into a better position,” he said.
Prince added that the wicket is good to bat on and expect that the duo would help them post a formidable score. “We know the areas we want to score in. There's definitely a plan, but we don't have a number in mind. We want to get as many as possible. The pitch is good for batting. Is 400 enough, or 500 enough? No one knows. We just have to keep batting until the captain feels we have enough to declare,”‘ he said.
Hasan Ali urges his teammates to maintain line and length
Pakistani pacer Hasan Ali urged his teammates not to try too many things and instead just concentrate on bowling in right areas to earn success against Bangladesh.
The hosts made a brilliant comeback after losing early wickets and according to Hasan, the pitch became easy to bat on as time progressed.
“I think they are in a good position and finished the day on 250. If we can stop them at 350 that would be great and way pitch is behaving our batsmen are very capable and they are in good form and we are confident to put up a big score,” he said.
“The wicket is slow and we have to bowl in the right areas so that the batsmen make mistakes and we have more chance to pick wickets,” Hasan said after the game. “Our plan was to take wickets up front and we were successful initially. We should appreciate the way both played and took the game away from us. I think they played brilliant innings' and after the opening session the ball came onto the bat nicely and we could not pick wickets but this is how Test cricket goes on. We will try to strike back tomorrow morning,” he added.
