Indore, Nov 13 (UNI) Bangladesh wicket-keeper Mohammad Mithun wants his team
to show consistency across sessions, ahead of the two-Test series against India,
starting with the first game on on Thursday, at Holkar Stadium here.
To that end, Mithun hoped Bangladesh can take inspiration from their first ever
T20I win against India, in the opening game of their tour earlier this month. He
also wished Bangladesh draw from the lessons to be learned from their subsequent
defeats, as they eventually conceded the T20I series 2-1.
In the deciding T20I, Bangladesh, at 110/2 in the 13th over, seemed on course to
chase down India's 174/5. However, a dramatic collapse resulted in them capitulating
for 144, giving the hosts a comfortable 30-run win.
Mithun, who had combined with Mohammad Naim for a 98-run to put his team on
course, espoused the value of patience in the longest format.
"Look, in the past, no one gave us any chance when it comes to beating India in a
T20, and that too in their own backyard," Mithun said. "But our players had that belief.
Whenever we play, whether it is difficult or easy opponent, we try to win the match.
It happens sometimes and it doesn't on other occasions. We are disappointed that we
could not win the last game despite creating chances, and at the same time now we
are looking forward to doing well in the Test series."
"We get down to the field with the mindset of winning the match. It is not a T20
match that we will try to win immediately. Here, every session will be important. The
first two hours is as important as the last two hours. So we need to win session by
session to create our chances of winning the game," he said.
"If we build up a partnership and later two or three wickets fall quickly, we will be
on the back foot again. The match is open for five days. It's not only the middle order
but the top order needs to perform as well because that will make the workload of
the middle order easier. We have to be consistent in each session," said Mithun.
India's rise to the top in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings has been brought
about by the consistency and quality shown by their all-round bowling attack, and
Bangladesh, under their batting coach Neil McKenzie, are focusing on technical
aspects to overcome the tough challenge, an ICC report said.
"We all know the strength of their bowling line-up," Mithun said. "We are working on
how to tackle their spinners because we feel it will be difficult for their spinners than
their pace bowlers. It is batting friendly for the first two days, but afterwards their
spinners come into play as they try to attack their opponents keeping them in the
forefront. We are working on some technical aspects keeping our focus on how to
handle them."
"We are looking at our strength more than focusing on their weakness because no
team could do well at their India's home in the recent past," Mithun added.
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