A photo taken from Facebook shows Bangladesh batsman Mahmudullah, manager Khaled Mashud, opener Tamim Iqbal, expatriate former national player Al Shahriar and one-day international skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza is passing a leisurely time at Napier, New Zealand on Monday.— Courtesy photo
Former New Zealand pacer and current commentator Danny Morrison urged the Bangladeshi pacers to be more patient to succeed in their forthcoming series against New Zealand, starting on Wednesday.
‘Patience is the key word for the bowlers and even the batsman. Particularly for the bowlers,’ Morrison told reporters before leaving Dhaka after the conclusion of his commentary stint in the sixth Bangladesh Premier league.
‘Look, New Zealand is very different condition. Even good sides struggle there. Difficulty in the modern game is that bowler’s tend to get impatient, like batsman, because of the white ball game.
‘I just think, for Bangladesh or Asian side, the patience thing will be important. And that’s where New Zealand are good. They are patient,’ he added.
The local pacers were the surprise package of the recently concluded sixth edition of BPL, where four of the top-five wicket-takers were Bangladeshi pacers with Sakib al Hasan, who occupied the top-spot, being an exception.
In the absence of their Test skipper Sakib, who injured his finger in the final of BPL, expectations are high on the pacers to replicate their BPL performance.
Morrison praised Bangladesh’s pacers and claimed that the Bangladesh pace-attack would enjoy the helpful New Zealand condition.
‘And I think Bangladesh got the pace attack to certainly enjoy it there.… I like what I have seen with the pacers from Bangladesh here in BPL-6,’ he said.
Taskin Ahmed, who claimed 22 wickets in BPL-6, was set to make his return to the national side in the New Zealand series, but got ruled out of the tour after suffering an ankle injury in his team Sylhet Sixers’ last match in BPL-6.
Morrison termed Taskin’s injury as a shame, but backed Khaled Ahmed to fill in the gap of the injured pacer.
‘It’s a shame about Taskin. He would have been a real go to guy. I think there is Khaled Ahmed, I liked him as well.’
This is the first time Bangladesh will play a three-match Test series against the Kiwis and the fourth time overall in their Test history.
Bangladesh have always had a treacherous time in New Zealand, having lost all their matches in every format against the home side, with their only victory in New Zealand coming against Scotland in the 2015 World Cup.
Bangladesh last toured New Zealand in 2017, where they remained winless for the entire tour, losing three ODIs, Twenty20s and two Tests.
Bangladesh’s only fond memory in the series was the massive 359-run fifth wicket stand between Sakib and Mushfiqur Rahim in the first Test in Wellington as Bangladesh declared on 595-8 in the first innings.
But despite posting almost 600-run Bangladesh ended up on the losing side owing to an embarrassing batting collapse in their second innings where they were bundled out for just 160 and lost the match by six wickets.
Morrison hinted to this defeat and claimed that having the bowling to bowl-out the opposition was the main challenge for Bangladesh in the Test matches.
‘They scored nearly 600 and still lost the game. That was frustrating. They have the batting, it’s about their bowling and taking 20 wickets. Staying in the game, so that will be the challenge, no doubt about it,’ he said.
Morrison also warned Bangladesh of the bowling prowess of New Zealand, who are particularly menacing in their own backyard and possess a lot of variety in their attack.
‘You got Southee (Tim), and you got Boult (Trent), Wagner (Neil), all different styles. Wagner bounces people out, that’s his strength. They have got a lot of base covered.’
Source: New Age.
