‘We played with a lot of fear’
For the second time in four days of the one-off Test match against Afghanistan, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan came to the press conference to negotiate questions from the media. The Tigers were on the verge of the humiliation of losing a Test against the newest member of the Test fraternity at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram yesterday. Unlike the second day of the Test when Shakib blamed the pitch for being the opposite of what they expected, yesterday the skipper was rather keen to face the media. Even after the media manager called off the 20-minute-long press conference Shakib, with a smile on his face, was eager to continue fielding questions from the media. Excerpts of the lively press conference are given below:
Question (Q): Apart from captain’s press conferences, we don’t often see you face the media. As captain, are you trying to take the pressure off your teammates?
Shakib Al Hasan (SAH): You can say it is a way to release the pressure from teammates, but the pressure on the field will remain.
Q: The BCB president in Dhaka said that there was a mistake in planning. What do you think?
SAH: When results don’t go your way and the plan is not executed, there will be such talk. As we were unable to execute the plan, in such a position it’s natural to say that there was a mistake in planning.
Q: Your take on the way Mosaddek Hossain got out?
SAH: To be honest, among all of us who batted in the first innings Mosadek looked most comfortable against their spinners. As we were mostly facing the spinners, we planned on the previous day about sending him up the order. He also has the experience of playing big innings -- he scored four or five double hundreds in first-class cricket. If we want to chase a 400-plus total, we need someone who has the experience of playing big innings. As long he was at the crease in both innings, he batted well but I have to admit that he was unable to execute and failed.
Q: Overall, what is the problem of the batsmen – is it in technique or mentality?
SAH: You can say both as we don’t play wrist-spinners, so that’s something new, whether it’s left or right-arm bowlers. Naturally there is the matter of adjusting, although we planned accordingly by playing such bowlers in the nets. But until you get the success in a match, those practices won’t work. I won’t say that there was any problem in our approach, but I would say there was huge problem in execution. When you are not able to execute and you are unable to play with a big heart, you will play a bowler in fear. Even the coach [Russell Domingo] said to play with an open heart and I think that we played with a lot of fear. At the end of the day, it’s a cricket match and it’s obviously important for us, but at times we take so much pressure that it’s difficult to perform and when we are unable to do that, the pressure mounts.
Q: How far is it possible to go on the fifth day?
SAH: How any runs do we need? 270? So both [himself and Soumya Sarkar] need to score hundreds. Not just hundreds, we have to score 120 and 150 (smiles).
Q: Is that possible?
SAH: Nothing is impossible… let’s see. The other thing is the rain, that can help us… let’s see.
Q: What’s your take on the body language of the Afghanistan team, who are playing just their third Test?
SAH: Good, but we were unable to push them to a position where they would have to show their character and if we were able to do that, we would have known about their character. If we were able to score 200 for two, we could have tested their character and determination tomorrow [Monday].
Q: Is there a lack of ability?
SAH: Everyone has the ability as apart from Shadman Islam, there is no one in the team who hasn’t played a role to win a match in the past. As they have done that, it means that they have the ability. The thing is, you have the talent and are able to replicate that on the field, while on the other hand someone has the talent but is unable to prove that. That’s a very fine line, but that sets a big player and a small cricketer apart.