Bangladesh’s spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed urged the batters to ‘play the ball, not the bowler’ after they were thrashed by Afghanistan in the second ODI at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Afghanistan clinched the three-match series with a crushing 81-run win to take an unassailable 2-0 lead.
Bangladesh were bundled out for 109 runs in 28.3 overs—their lowest against the Afghans in an ODI and second lowest for any team in Abu Dhabi—while chasing 190 after an extraordinary collapse of five wickets for just 10 runs.
Rashid Khan grabbed his sixth five-wicket haul in ODIs as he registered a figure of 5-17, while Azmatullah Omarzai took 3-17.
This was Bangladesh’s fourth consecutive loss in a bilateral ODI series overall and third consecutive against Afghanistan.
‘I think the ground reality is we have to sort our batting out,’ Mushtaq said after the match when he was asked why they were struggling in the ODIs.
‘They are good players; they can bat. But obviously against spin departments like Rashid and all those guys [who] are very mature and experienced cricketers in those conditions, [they are struggling].’ he added.Â
He advised his batters to be proactive when tackling the spin challenge.
‘So we have to be very proactive in playing those kinds of spinners very quickly. And I think if we can do that in middle overs, if we can start playing spin well in those conditions, I believe that Bangladesh, you can see the glimpse, we can challenge against any team, Inshallah,’ he said.
Leg-spinner Rashid once again caused havoc as Bangladesh crumbled against him. Mushtaq said that the batters were prioritising his fame, not his bowling.
He said, ‘I think, this is my observation, I think they are playing Rashid, not the ball. He is not a big spinner of the ball, great value, he has been very experienced, and he is a wicket taker. He challenged [us] because his line length is very consistent.’Â
‘So I think we have to sometimes play the ball, not the bowler. So I think this is the case; we have to improve quickly,’ he added.
The former Pakistan leg-spinner also hinted that the Bangladeshi batters needed to improve on their temperaments.
‘You know international cricket is all about a great temperament, and if you have a great temperament, you can play against any bowler,’ he said.
‘So Rashid, well done to him; he has been very, very successful for many, many years for Afghanistan. But at the same time, as a Bangladeshi batting unit, we should know how to play the ball, not the bowler,’ he added.
The third and final ODI of the series is scheduled on October 14 at the same venue.
