Simmons: Taijul's form hugely concerning for Bangladesh
Simmons is hoping for a better batting performance in the hopes of replicating their success in Darwin
One-nil down in the Test series against West Indies, Bangladesh are looking to improve on their batting performances in a bid to replicate the success in Darwin earlier this year.
Speaking a day ahead of the second Test, scheduled to begin in Sylhet from Thursday (November 4), head coach Phil Simmons remained coy about the plans they have in their bank to level the series.
“You always have to have something up your sleeve, so it will stay up the sleeve until tomorrow,” said Simmons, admitting that they have not batted well following their Test win against Australia.
After winning the Darwin Test, Bangladesh lost to Australia in the following game. After that, they managed to earn a draw against Afghanistan at UAE. Last week, they lost the series opener against West Indies.
“Since Darwin, particularly we haven't batted well. We showed what we're capable of if the determination to bat is there, but since that we have not batted well in the formats we've played,” he said.
“What I see from the wicket, it looks good. I remember the Pakistan wicket last year, or earlier this year, and it seems to be similar to that, so a good cricket wicket,” he said.
“Well, I don't think it's hard to replicate (the Darwin win) and I think the one thing I can tell you is that the guys have been working hard and what they say in the same intensity and the same way we worked before Darwin,” he said.
Simmons added that they are not losing sleep over the availability of Litton, who felt uncomfortable in the nets on November 3 and did not bat at Sylhet a day before the game.
“He (Litton) didn't train today as he did some fielding and then he went back. So that's what he normally does the day before the game,” said Simmons.
“So nothing different, and he hasn't done anything different today. He did our fielding drills and everything and then took rest, and that's his preparation before a match,” he said.
Simmons said that he still has trust in their spinners but also added he is a bit worried with the form of Taijul Islam, whose place in the second Test remains in doubt. Bangladesh's highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, Taijul has only picked up five wickets in his last four Test matches .
“It (Taijul form) is hugely concerning because he is one of the major spinners we have in the team. So it has to be concerning. When you're discussing with him, it is concerning for him too, as well as the team, because he is a major weapon that we have in this team,” he said.
“The spinners are part of our strength. We've had a lot of fast bowlers coming through now, but the spinners are also part of our strength. The last game here, the two of them won the game for us on the last day. So we still have a lot of trust in our spinners,” he said.
Meanwhile, West Indies head coach Darren Sammy said that they will wait until the last minute to select their team, similar to the strategy they used in Dhaka.
West Indies dropped Kemar Roach after seeing the wicket was expected to assist spinners more than pacers at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium during their opening Test.
“I've had a look at the wicket yesterday, but I don't think I will make a fair assessment until the day of the game. You know, in Dhaka, the morning of the Test match when we saw the pitch, the final preparation, that's when we had to finalise our team. So, we'll use that same strategy,” said Sammy.
“The guys who might play or might not play depending on the surface, we've informed them about that. But just looking at the history here, it seems to be a very good ground where batters, you know, get value for their runs,” he said.
Sammy added that ending the Test series on a high will be a huge achievement for them.
“It's going to be a big achievement. As you know they've played some really good cricket,” said Sammy.
"The last time we beat them here 2-0, I think Phil was the coach. So, to come here and do that would be a massive end, a great end for us in the Test Championship because we all know when we took over, when I took over and we looked at the first three, four series, going to Australia at home with a new team, then India in India, then New Zealand away in New Zealand, that was a tough baptism to my Test coaching career,” he said.
“But these are things we spoke about in the dressing room and we were speaking about by the time we get to Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh with the stability that the team could have and we're right on course to finish with the goal we had in mind in this test cycle,” he added.
