Bangladesh batting coach Mohammad Ashraful defended his batters for the lack of big scores after three of them were dismissed between 60 and 87 in the second innings of the second Test against Ireland at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Saturday.
In three innings of the ongoing series, Bangladesh batters reached fifty 12 times while they managed to convert those into hundreds four times; however, Mushfiq remained unbeaten on 53.
Mominul Haque and Shadman Islam, two top-order batters, have gone past 60 five times in total but failed to convert any of those.
But Ashraful, who has been working in the series on an interim basis, said that most of them were dismissed on good deliveries.
鈥業f we see, Mominul was dismissed for 80 [82] in the first innings off a fantastic delivery. Here, in the first innings, he was out while playing a sweep shot which bounced off his toe [boot]. So there鈥檚 not much you can say when you get out in this fashion,鈥� Ashraful told reporters after the day鈥檚 play.
鈥楾hey鈥檙e not throwing their wickets away. When you get out on good balls, it鈥檚 better that we don鈥檛 complain. We should talk positively then. They get hurt more when they get out in this fashion,鈥� he added.
However, Ashraful also hopes that the batters will think about how they can score big.
鈥楾here are 18 Test till 2027 starting from the next year. I hope the players will prepare themselves after setting a goal,鈥� he said.
While defending the batters, Ashraful also said that the frequency of Test matches and the domestic system are also causing problems.
鈥極ne of the problems is the gap [between the series]. So it鈥檚 difficult to adjust. And as you know, we have been using Duke balls for the last three years in first-class cricket. You鈥檒l see that in one season, Mominul scored 390 runs without scoring a hundred. Playing in Duke balls is challenging,鈥� said Ashraful.
鈥業f you play big innings in domestic cricket, then you can hope that they will be able to do that in Tests too. Like Joy [Mahmudul Hasan], his career-best 170 [171] came the other day. So we should not hope that they will play big innings overnight in international cricket. These things must come from the domestic system,鈥� he added.
When it comes to converting fifties into hundreds, Mominul鈥攚ho has the joint highest 13 hundreds for Bangladesh鈥攈as been finding it difficult.
Since his last hundred in 2024, the left-hander has made six fifties without a hundred. On three occasions, he fell after crossing the 80-run mark, including in the second innings of the second Test against Ireland.
Ashraful said that he discussed it with Mominul.
鈥楾he important thing is whether he鈥檚 maintaining the process. He might not be thinking about how many runs he鈥檚 scoring,鈥� he said.
鈥楤ut my personal opinion is, as I have seen Sachin Tendulkar do, to take some time while nearing a 100. Because the team gets runs when you perform,鈥� said Ashraful.
Ashraful also hopes that the batters will go big in the near future.
鈥楬ow they鈥檙e preparing and playing, I believe that you鈥檒l see big innings from our players,鈥� he said.