Batting coach frustrated with throwing away wickets

Bangladesh’s Litton Das walks off the field after being dismissed by India’s Ravichandran Ashwin during the first day of the second cricket Test match between Bangladesh and India at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on 22 December 2022.AFP

Bangladesh batting coach Jamie Siddons expressed his frustration of his charges throwing away wickets cheaply after getting set time and again.

Bangladesh showcased yet another dismal show as the hosts got all out for a paltry 227 after winning the toss on first day of their second test match against India at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Thursday.

Bangladesh’s Mominul Haque plays a shot during the first day of the second cricket Test match between Bangladesh and India at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on 22 December 2022.
AFP

Momiul Haque, who returned to test fold after getting dropped in Chattogram, scored highest 84 but any other batter failed to make over 26 albeit all of the top seven got past 15-run mark.

Indian pace bowler Umesh Yadav and Ravichndran Ashwin picked up four wickets apiece and pitch had some turn but bad selection of shots after getting set by Bangladeshi batters was the chief reason of their shortcoming.

"It is very frustrating," said Siddons at the post-day press conference on Thursday.

"We work hard. We talk about when you’re in, you need to stay in. You have to make sure of a big score when you get a start. It was a little bit like Ctg, three or four guys getting twenties. Other guys getting 15s and 16s, and only one guy doing the job for us. We are not getting match-winning scores doing that. People made mental errors again when they were set. The ball was spinning but the pace bowlers weren’t getting off a great deal. To let Umesh get five (sic: four) wickets was very disappointing," added the coach.

Bangladesh skipper Shakib al Hasan threw away his wicket at the very first ball after lunch when he charged Umesh to loft an easy catch to mid-off.

India's Umesh Yadav appeals successfully for the Leg Before Wicket (LBW) decision of Bangladesh's Nurul Hasan (not pictured) during the first day of the second cricket Test match between Bangladesh and India at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on 22 December 2022.
AFP

"It is disappointing as senior players are making mental errors. He was walking down the wicket to spinners and pace bowlers anyway, just to change their lengths. He was worried by their lengths, so he tried to change it. Straight after lunch, the bowler is also going to be rusty. He could have got some bad bowling if he stayed in the crease. It was his decision. It was frustrating for me to watch players make those mistakes," said Siddons.

Liton Das was another batter who had a soft dismissal but coach thought the batter was struggling to cope up with the change of formation. However, he heaped praise for Mominul and thought the change of approach was the key of getting him back in runs.

India's cricketers celebrate after the dismissal of Bangladesh's Mehidy Hasan Miraz (not pictured) during the first day of the second cricket Test match between Bangladesh and India at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on 22 December 2022.
AFP

"It is a mental switch. We freed him up throughout the week. We let him have a bit of fun in his batting. Hit some balls hard. It was more a T20 approach. I don’t know if it helped him or not but he played some shots and had a lot of success. Shame he didn’t get a hundred."

Bangladesh were 213-5 at a stage but saw a late collapse and the coach believed his team was at least 70 runs short considering the conditions. The hosts need to show some incredible performance with bowl to comeback in this match.

"We should have got 300 easy. We lost 5 for 14 in the end. There were probably 40-50 runs in those five wickets, especially when three of those were batters. We are 70 behind par. We have to bowl and field really well tomorrow. Hope we stay in touch by the end of the day."