Bangladesh pace bowling Coach Allan Donald was surprised that Shakib al Hasan did not bowl much against Ireland on the third day as he felt it would have helped his side while Ireland started the day with a deficit of 128 runs and six wickets in hand, and is currently leading by 131 runs with two wickets in hand.
Bangladesh pace bowling Coach Allan Donald was surprised that Shakib al Hasan did not bowl much against Ireland on the third day as he felt it would have helped his side.
As Ireland finished the third day of their second innings at 286-8, wicketkeeper-batsman Lorcan Tucker made his Test debut memorable by batting a superb 108 off 162 balls. Andy McBrine (71 not out) and Harry Tector (55) also made good contributions.
Ireland started the day with a deficit of 128 runs and six wickets in hand and is currently leading by 131 runs with two wickets in hand.
Bangladesh’s veteran left-arm spinner Shakib al Hasan ended the day with just six overs in four spells after being brought in to open the bowling on the third day.
His choice to bowl just three overs in the first innings and thirteen overs in the second eventually became the topic of conversation as the tourists dominated with the bat.
“I must admit, I have no idea (why he didn’t bowl much),”
Donald said.
“He seems fit. He came off a couple of times just for bathroom breaks. But I’m not quite sure. I think he wanted to give the attack a chance to go and do the job but I don’t know why he hasn’t bowled enough today,”
he said after the day’s play.
“You know, 13 overs, two for 20-odd. I thought the second new ball, when we took it today, was gonna be a big factor. And it honestly didn’t spin like it did last night. I thought it was gonna be a new ball type of pitch, and once you get in on this wicket, you could score runs. But that question is better suited for Shakib,”
he said, adding that if Shakib had bowled more overs, things could have been different.
“Yeah, I’m sure (we missed him) because what Shakib does amazingly well is he shuts one end down, and because he’s such an experienced campaigner, he varies his pace smartly. Although there was no real turn all day long, I thought he would’ve been a guy that would control one end and shut one end down,”
he said.
However, Donald credited the bowling line-up for the effort they put in, despite the meager returns on a difficult day for the hosts.
“I thought Miraz, Taijul, the three seamers tried their guts out today. And it didn’t quite happen. But tomorrow is a big morning. I mean, they are 130 runs ahead now if I’m correct. So, tomorrow we gotta go bang, bang quickly and get batting,” he said.
Just after tea on day three, Shakib appeared to be experiencing hand pain after trying to stop a ball, although it was not verified whether this was the reason he didn’t bowl as much.
Donald expressed his admiration for Ireland’s comeback in the Test match but added that Bangladesh should have shown more creativity in the absence of any favorable circumstances.
“Let me tell you that is one of the flattest wickets I’ve seen. And there’s not a lot of life for the quicks in here, especially halfway down. And we’ve seen a couple of balls not carry to the keeper. Hey, but that’s Test cricket. No one said Test cricket’s gone be easy.
“We got to deal with it. We’ve got to find ways. We’ve got to be creative; we’ve got to be patient, and persistent. Sometimes you know that you’re doing everything possible, sitting on the sideline there, you try out every plan that we discussed in the breaks, and it still doesn’t come off. And that’s what happened today.”