‘Total score would be 1100 if everyone scores a hundred’
Bangladesh Test skipper Mominul Haque said that it is unrealistic for everyone in the team to perform well in a game.
When Bangladesh lose one, the rest follows -- this has been an age-old problem for Bangladesh in any format of the game. Asked how Mominul addresses this perennial issue of the Tigers, the 30-year-old cricketer said: "It is difficult for everyone in the team to perform at a time. If 11 players score centuries then the total would be 1100 [chuckles]," Mominul said at the press conference following Bangladesh's first Test against Sri Lanka, which ended in a draw in Chattogram today.
"Cricket is such a game that two or three players will perform and the ones who perform, they would need to make it big. That's how the game is," added Mominul.
Despite the Chattogram pitch being a docile one, Bangladesh could still have pushed for getting a result in the match. On the fourth day of the Test, Bangladesh were 385 for three, just 12 runs behind Sri Lanka's first-innings score of 397. And with two set batters in Mushfiqur Rahim, on 85, and Liton Das, on 88, at the crease, the Tigers could have opted to accelerate and take a comprehensive lead to put Sri Lanka under pressure.
However, after a 164-run stand between Liton and Mushfiqur, Bangladesh lost two wickets in successive deliveries -- those of Liton and Tamim Iqbal -- as the hosts ended up losing momentum.
Mominul also admitted that losing wickets in quick succession at that crucial juncture of the game played a big role in the eventual outcome of the Test.
"Had Liton not gotten dismissed at that time, we could have taken a chance to accelerate. But at that time, we lost a few quick wickets. Tamim [Iqbal] bhai and Liton got dismissed in quick succession. It Liton or anyone else could stay at the crease with Mushfiqur [Rahim] bhai at the crease for another hour then we could have done things differently," Mominul said.
Earlier in the first innings, Bangladesh had also lost the wickets of Najmul Hossain Shanto and skipper Mominul in space of just 37 deliveries to lose momentum after a magnificent opening stand. Both Mominul and Shanto were dismissed for cheap scores of two and one respectively.
Mominul, who had now been dismissed for a single-digit score in his last five innings, however, reiterated that he is 'still not concerned' over his form.
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