Pakistan's cricketers celebrate after the dismissal of Bangladesh's Taijul Islam (C) during the first day of the first cricket Test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on February 7, 2020. (Photo by AAMIR QURESHI / AFP) Bangladesh’s Test hitters will have a mental battle.
Away from the commotion surrounding Bangladesh’s One-Day International team, which will begin a three-match; series against South Africa on Friday (March 17), the tourists’ long-form batters, led by Mominul Haque, have been sweating; it out at the Gary Kirsten Academy in Cape Town in preparation for the two-Test series that will follow. Bangladesh’s Test hitters will have a mental battle.
Though Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo has stated that the team’s focus at the moment; is on the ODIs and their need to achieve something no Bangladesh team has done before in this country; the Test squad appears to be in a better position to make a breakthrough, having recently won their first Test match in New Zealand.
Following the momentous win in Tauranga, the Bangladesh Cricket Board devised a detailed preparation; plan for the Test team ahead of this visit. On Mominul’s recommendation, the majority of the Test Unit’s cricketers were enrolled; in the Bangladesh Tigers, a development program residential camp in Bogura.
“The circumstances in South Africa and Bogura won’t be the same,” Mominul told Cricbuzz following; a marathon practice in the nets, where he was spotted manipulating shorts balls for hours on end.
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“If we want to do well in South Africa, we’ll have to bat for lengthy periods of time; and that will be our toughest obstacle,” he said. “A lot will rely on how we score runs and whether we can play six to seven sessions.”
The decision by BCB to send the Test unit to the Gary Kirsten Academy demonstrates the team’s focus on ensuring that their longer format batters are mentally prepared to deal with the foreign environment.
“Basically, he (Kirsten) is offering the hitters ideas on how to approach our innings in these conditions,” said Mohammad Mithun, who is a participant of the camp despite not being in the Test team. “I believe that after 10 sessions here, we will have a clear understanding of the situation and what to expect,” he stated.
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“I believe the South African conditions are difficult, and the pace and bounce vary, as we saw while batting in the middle. Playing shots in red-ball is quite difficult here, and Kirsten agreed. The scoring run rate in other areas is three, three and a half to four, but not here.