Shakib lays blame on middle-order

SWEETS FOR THE HERO: Imrul Kayes's mother (C) feeds Tamim Iqbal (R) after Bangladesh arrived at the Shahjalal International Airport yesterday. Imrul and Tamim had a wonderful time in England, adding more than hundred runs for the opening stand in both Test matches.Photo: STAR

Shakib Al Hasan blamed the Tigers' inexperience and constant chopping and changing for their recent uninspiring performances in the longer-version of the game.
The Bangladesh skipper was speaking to the reporters upon their arrival at the Shahjalal International Airport from London after yet another 2-0 loss in a two-Test series, this time in England. The Tigers' only achievement was to push the game to tea on the fifth day in the first Test at Lord's but the batting debacle in Manchester exposed their frailty.
"We have been a young side for the last ten years. The players have not been given a chance to settle down," said Shakib.
"You should take a look at Zimbabwe, how they are getting results having persisted with one set of players for the past 4-5 years," added the Magura-born captain of the national team.
Keeping improvement in the forefront of his views on the tour, Shakib took the blame upon himself but also found the form of the bowlers wanting. "Everyone knows that we did well in the first Test but not the second game. Not just avoid the follow-on, we were in a position to score big in the first innings but we failed. The bowling wasn't too good in the series either," he said.
But one man who can lay claim to be the lone shining light in the series would be Tamim Iqbal. The left-handed opener struck back-to-back centuries and a fifty, runs that helped hush some of the critics. "From my point of view it was a good series. Two centuries and a half-century in English conditions is not a simple task but as far as the team is concerned, it wasn't such a good series," said Tamim who praised Imrul Kayes and Junaed Siddiqui but pointed out the lack of runs from the middle-order.
"It is quite sad that the middle and lower order didn't perform and this became our problem (in England), making our performance in the two Tests inconsistent," added Tamim, who was Bangladesh's man-of-the-series with 268 runs.
"Ever since bhaiya (Nafees Iqbal) told me that there is an honours board in Lord's where the centurion's name is etched forever, I wanted to score there," said Tamim who confirmed that his gesture after reaching his hundred was towards Pete the dressing-room attendant.
Shakib, who thought the Tigers' World Twenty20 show was encouraging, seemed optimistic about their prospects in the upcoming Asia Cup. The skipper thinks that a win against either India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka is not impossible.
The national team players will only get a day's break at home as they are scheduled to fly for Colombo tomorrow to take part in the Asia Cup which will kick off from June 15 in Dambulla.