"I think we are not very good players against spin" - Mominul Haque's blunt assessment following series defeat against South Africa
Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque candidly acknowledged that his side are poor players of spin, with the exception of one or two batters. The southpaw's admission came after the tourists succumbed to a 332-run defeat in the second Test against South Africa, thanks to Keshav Maharaj's seven-wicket haul.
Maharaj, who completed 150 wickets in Test cricket, took his second seven-wicket haul in the series. The left-arm spinner's nine wickets in the second Test in Gqeberha bundled Bangladesh out for 80 while chasing 413.
It eventually gave the hosts a comfortable series victory. His spin partner Simon Harmer also finished with six scalps in the match.
Test wickets
CONGRATULATIONS KESH 👏
Keshav Maharaj has now claimed 1️⃣ 5️⃣ 0️⃣ Test wickets
#BePartOfIt https://t.co/UCGrvBmjpf
Haque pointed out that aside from one or two players, his players are inept at handling spin-bowling. The 30-year old also felt it's vital to know the scoring areas against the spinners as spin varies in the sub-continent and outside of it. He said, as quoted by Cricbuzz:
"I think we are not very good players against spin and it might sound bad, but apart from one or two players, not many players can handle spin well. Probably, we failed to handle over-spin but what I feel is that after losing a match, a lot of things come in front of you. What I feel is that it is important to know where we want to score runs against the spinners."
Haque continued:
"Look, the wickets in the sub-continent and elsewhere are different. In the sub-continent, side-spin works a lot and that side-spin is very important for us in the subcontinent. In this part, over-spin works a lot but in our country, a bowler goes for side-spin due to the conditions."
Maharaj, who scalped 16 wickets in two Tests at 12.12, took seven-wicket hauls in consecutive Tests. On Day Four of the second Test, Bangladesh came out to bat with seven wickets remaining.
The 32-year old started it by removing Mushfiqur Rahim and the game ended within an hour. Notably, the second Test saw the visitors losing 15 wickets to spin, including all ten in the fourth innings.
"We failed to seize the opportunity" - Mominul Haque
The visiting skipper felt Bangladesh let go of a great opportunity to beat the Proteas, with many of their first-choice players missing. He lamented the inconsistency in both the Tests and said:
"It is frustrating as a captain because they were missing several main players and I felt we had a good chance to win at least one Test match. But we failed to seize the opportunity. You have to improve daily team-wise in Test cricket and not by playing one or two good sessions or three days out of five days."
2nd test summary:
South Africa won by 332 runs and win the test series by 2-0.
#BCB #Cricket #SAvBAN https://t.co/jNs4TCWkJ1
Bangladesh started the tour brilliantly by claiming their first ODI series win in South Africa. However, the home side were too good in red-ball cricket and the fringe players stepped up.