'Do BD want to do well away?'
South Africa's highest Test wicket-taker and a former Test captain, Shaun Pollock has watched Bangladesh's dismal performance from up in the commentary box. On the third and what turned out to be the final day, he was generous enough to give time to a group of journalists to give some valuable and thought-provoking insights on Bangladesh cricket after a tough series.
Q: How would you evaluate Bangladesh's performance in this series?
Shaun Pollock (SP): It was disappointing. These are not normal South African wickets. Potchefstroom or here are probably the two flattest and easiest wickets to bat on. If we go to Bangladesh or India and play wickets that don't turn, we would find that easy. These don't really bounce and don't really have pace. I just feel they need to take it to the next level when they tour. As I said, at home they are very good, but when they tour -- in ODIs or T20Is they are good and competitive -- but in the Test arena I was expecting them to be a stronger unit away.
Q: You were one of the great bowlers on Test cricket? How would you judge the Bangladesh bowlers on these wickets?
SP: I think it's challenging for them. They don't get a chance to bowl much. If you watch the Test matches in Bangladesh, they bowl five overs with the new ball and if it's reversing they'll bowl. And they bowl a lot of cutters. In South Africa, it's more about consistently hitting line and length. I like the Fizz [Mustafizur Rahman]. I have always enjoyed his bowling. He has got a lot of skills. I think they need to do some work on getting his seam position right, to shape it back in to the right-handers. Rubel Hossain, he is a skiddy customer. They have a lot to learn but they don't often get relied on.
Q: Have you seen a lack of awareness in longer-version bowling?
SP: It's not a problem that only Bangladesh have. It's a problem for a lot of teams because of the amount of one-day cricket they play. The sustained build-up of pressure like your coach, Courtney Walsh, used to do, those aren't things the young guys like to buy into anymore. Maybe they are a touch impatient.
Q: You were also a good batsman. How you rate the Bangladesh batsmen in this series? Disappointed the way they batted on these pitches?
SP: I don't know what preparation went on. They played one practice match, probably they needed to play two or three. When we went to face West Indies for example, against [Curtly] Ambrose and Walsh, we used to practice against a lot of tennis ball serving and learned how to duck and weave. I think your guys, they are not so tall like us, so they end up trying to play a lot of deliveries and that is what causes them trouble. You see a lot of shots balloons up. You have to learn the art of dropping the hands, and leaving the ball.
[Liton] Das played well on Saturday. Mominul [Haque] and Mahmudullah played nicely one innings. The problem is you need four guys performing like that. And that must be a frustration for Bangladesh. Do they want to play great cricket away from home? I am not sure. Maybe that's not an objective for them. Maybe they want to play well at home compete in ODIs away.
Q: Do you see a lack of hunger from Bangladesh about Test cricket?
SP: I won't say that, I'm saying about the objective. You come and play in South Africa or Australia once every four or five years. In general, there are lots of subcontinent tours or you go to the West Indies. All those are similar surfaces. Is it worthwhile putting time and effort into developing players able to play in these conditions? Or just come here and see what happens and try your best and focus on performing well at home.
Q: Your take on Mushfiqur Rahim's decision to field in both Tests?
SP: I would have batted first. But if he can bowl first in Potch, then he'll definitely bowl first in Bloem (smiles).