I was watching the match between India and South Africa. India took Ravichandran Ashwin in the team as the lone spinner. Seeing him bowl in the middle overs, I was reminded of Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib too could’ve bowled himself earlier on against Zimbabwe. He could’ve also used Mosaddek earlier and not keep his overs for the final overs, like India, who didn’t leave Ashwin’s overs for the end. We can learn from this. We need to consider increasing dependency on pacers so we don’t have to take a risk with spinners like we had to do the other day.
That’s why, I want to vote in favour of adding an extra pacer in the team. We should play with four fast bowlers. Till now, Bangladesh has used three pacers and all of them have bowled brilliantly. So, we could definitely consider playing four pacers. The pacers who have been left out of the team are also quite good. Shoriful Islam, Ebadot Hossain – both of them are in good rhythm. Given the chance, they will definitely enjoy playing in Australian conditions. I would put Ebadot ahead as genuine fast bowlers are very effective in these conditions. Just like Taskin Ahmed, I feel Ebadot will also do well.
We have to take this risk. We have to play a specialist pacer as the fifth bowler, not a part-timer. Because, we have been winning matches with our fast bowling. The way Bangladesh is batting right now, if they do well they will score 150-160 at best, the chances of them scoring 180-200 are very slim. Bowling first, we would want to restrict the opponents to 150-160. For that, our bowling will be crucial. Playing with four specialist bowlers like we did against Zimbabwe will be completely unacceptable.
We took that risk against South Africa. That day, Mehidy Hasan Miraz was picked in place of Yasir Ali. Now we realise that picking a pacer instead of a spinner would’ve been ideal. This combination has been very effective in this World Cup. After having to bowl a spinner, Mohammad Nawaz, in the final over against India, Pakistan have been playing with an extra pacer. South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and India are also forming their playing XIs with four pacers. We have to go the same way.
Other than that, I think the Bangladesh team has got their tactics right. Against Zimbabwe, a top-order batsman batted for a long time. That was good to see. That innings from Najmul Hossain Shanto was very important for the Bangladesh team. Now, there is a pattern in our batting. We are playing cautiously at the beginning. Then we are trying to cash in later on. We have to follow this pattern to keep improving.
In the last match, 65 runs came from the first 10 overs. We have to try to make it 70-75. In that match, 30 runs came from the final four overs. The team needs to score a few more runs in those overs. If they can fix these small issues, they will end up with a decent total, which the pacers can later defend. Fielding is also another factor. So far, we have fielded well. We have to carry it forward in the future.
A similar pattern has been on display in terms of batting in this World Cup. On Monday, even Australia were struggling against the new ball. Aaron Finch took a lot of time at the start to get set. He waited for a long time for an opportunity to score quick runs. Then in the final overs, he increased his strike rate by a lot.
Everyone had assumed that Australia would completely decimate the Irish. But that didn’t happen. Everyone had to bat in a disciplined manner. To score runs, batters have had to play proper cricket shots.
*This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ashfaq-Ul-Alam Niloy