Indore: Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque admitted Thursday that his team lacked the mental strength required to counter India’s formidable pace attack on the first day of the opening Test here.
Bangladesh were all out for 150 after opting to bat with Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav sharing seven wickets between them. More importantly, Bangladesh’s lower-order batsmen looked scared to face the Indian pacers.
“The wicket wasn’t unplayable at all or else me or Mushfiqur (Rahim) wouldn’t have scored. The problem is that when you are playing the world’s No. 1 Test team, you have to be mentally stronger,” Mominul Haque told reporters at the end of the day’s play.
When asked about his decision to bat first on a bouncy track, the skipper tried to defend it. “If we had started well, the question wouldn’t have been asked in first place,” Mominul shot back.
When questions were asked about whether the preparation for the Test series against India was an ideal one in the backdrop of players’ strike, Mominul spoke about how temperament has become a big factor.
“Personally, I have played nine first class games in the last five months and that’s good enough preparation I believe. Yes, what is different is the quality of bowling that we are facing,” Mominul pointed out.
“Obviously, at the international level, it will go up by a few notches. But then you don’t expect bowlers to bowl at 120 or 130 clicks at this level. It is a 100 per cent mental thing,” Mominul added.
Mominul termed his own dismissal as a ‘tactical error’ on his part. “I am responsible as I had a good partnership with Mushfiqur. I should have continued. Shouldn’t have played the shot I shot to play,” he added.
Asked about the match situation, Mominul made it clear that it will be very difficult to save the game from here on for Bangladesh. “Let’s be practical. They have already scored 80 plus. We are lagging far behind and it will be very difficult to save the game from this situation,” stated the Bangla skipper.
PTI