Batsmen add to causes for concern

Bangladesh were whitewashed by the West Indies after losing the second Test, falling 17 runs short of a 219-run target. Having staged a dramatic comeback by bowling the Windies out for just 117 in their second essay, Bangladesh's batting was dismantled on the fourth day inside two sessions.

The Tigers were guilty of playing shots which signalled a desire to finish the chase inside those two sessions. Captain Mominul Haque said that the target was achievable, but felt their plans did not bear fruit or that they needed to be more concrete in terms of effectiveness.

Bangladesh had gone into the match thinking that all spinners would find favour in the pitch. That backfired and the Windies electing to bat first meant that the Tigers would have to bat in the fourth innings on a pitch that saw some sharp turners. But without getting into the pitch's nature, they mostly failed miserably in their approach to countering the Windies spin on a playable surface. In effect, it was the Tigers' mental approach that did not fit Test level mentality.

"I think the target was chaseable but we collapsed in the top and middle order and maybe that's why we didn't reach the target. I don't think that in the four days we played, the wicket was that difficult at any time. In international cricket, you adjust if there is a difficult wicket. There was no odd bounce and maybe only Cornwall managed to get some bounce due to his height. But as batsmen and professional players, should have adjusted to that. We couldn't do that and that's why the game went out of our hands," Mominul said after the match.

Although they had found a good start through Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh were guilty of shots fit for shorter-version cricket and their failings were in part due to wanting to finish the game in a hurry.

"Our batting broke and we couldn't return from that, neither in the first nor the second. There is no specific reason but we couldn't make our plans a reality."

Without Shakib, one of the team's strike bowlers, the only available option was to add another pacer. Bangladesh played Soumya Sarkar as an opener although he was not part of the announced Test squad after the team management could not put their faith in Saif Hassan. Mohammad Mithun was picked in the eleven to bolster the batting but the team think-tank's mindset became a cause of fallibility.

"We didn't play positive cricket in the second innings," Mominul said. "We have to work on our issues and plan things.

"Without Shakib bhai, it becomes difficult to formulate the team combination. We had a few issues and we needed a medium pacer who could bat. Soumya has experience and also played the ODIs. That's why I picked him but when you lose, it appears that there is a lot lacking.

"I do think we have improved [in Tests] but we haven't improved a lot. But there is no end to improving."

Following the first Test, when they could not manage to defend 395 with the ball, the focus was only now shifting to batting as well as to other areas that need deeper contemplation.

"Batsmen have to make a habit of playing big innings and also batting for a long time. That's the most important," he concluded.

SCORES IN BRIEF

West Indies: First Innings-409 and second innings -117 all out in 52.5 overs (Campbell 18, Bonner 38, Da Silva 20; Taijul 4-36, Nayeem 3-34, Mehedi 1-15, Jayed 2-32)

Bangladesh: First innings-296 and second innings 213 all out in 61.3 overs (Tamim 50, Mominul 26, Liton 22, Mehedi 31, extras 14; Cornwall 4-105, Warrican 3-47, Brathwaite 3-25)

Result: West Indies won by 17 runs.

Player-of-the-match: Rahkeem Cornwall.

Player-of-the-series: Nkrumah Bonner.