Anamul lets Mash down

Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza reportedly preferred Anamul Haque ahead of Liton Das to open the innings alongside Tamim Iqbal in the three-match ODI series against West Indies in a bid to give 25-year-old Anamul an opportunity to play without any pressure.

Frustratingly that did not work well as Anamul proved unworthy of his captain's trust. Instead his ugly 31-ball 10-run effort in the third and final ODI in Basseterre brought about the question of whether he would go into another long hibernation from international cricket.

Since he made his comeback to the national side in January this year after a three-year absence, Anamul batted in seven innings and scores of 19, 35, 1, 0, 0, 23 and 10 only served to jeopardize his place in the side.

He scored only 23 runs in the second ODI but his nine-ball knock still had a positive impact during the Tigers' chase of a 272-run target, but his batting in the third game raised many eyebrows.

Anamul was mainly responsible for Bangladesh's clumsy start after Mashrafe decided to bat first with an unchanged team in the series decider. The Tigers scored only 37 runs in first 10 overs for the loss of Anamul's wicket.

Anamul's struggle ended when he made an ordinary attempt to execute a hook against Jason Holder only to hit into the hands of Kieran Powell at mid-on. Before that, the way the right-hander negotiated the length balls from Holder and Sheldon Cottrell and blocked on the front foot reflected the technique of a novice batsman.

Anamul's selfish approach was often blamed for his long absences from the national side previously but the last innings against West Indies gave enough evidence to think about it in another way.