'Pakistani spinners are not that dangerous': Shanto laments poor execution
"They are not that dangerous. And it's not that everyone took the attacking option. Everyone tried to play their go-to shots. Probably the execution was not perfect," Shanto said.
After Pakistan had declared their first innings on 300 for four, Bangladesh displayed what should be called a suicidal performance with the bat. It is difficult to imagine that despite more than 200 overs being lost due to rain, a Pakistan win is well and truly on the cards and for that Bangladesh have got only themselves to blame.
Most of the batters gifted their wickets while opting for aggressive strokes. They acted as if they were in a hurry to go back to the change room. Pakistan spinners - Sajid Khan and Nauman Ali - got good purchase from the wicket and the batters took the high-risk option of scoring quick runs which eventually backfired.
"Sometimes you can execute, sometimes you cannot," said top-order batter Najmul Hossain Shanto. "Today we could not execute the plan, probably tomorrow we will. It's not that we have not done that before. We have scored 300-400 regularly, we even crossed 500 in Sri Lanka. Certainly, we have become more consistent."
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
"Today was not our day. That doesn't mean we don't have the ability to do better. We have done better than this before," he added.
Sajid took all the wickets of Bangladeshi batters apart from a run out. Nauman too did fairly well, keeping up the pressure. Shanto said that the Pakistani spinners are not that dangerous and Bangladesh's failure has a lot to do with poor execution.
"They are not that dangerous. And it's not that everyone took the attacking option. Everyone tried to play their go-to shots. Probably the execution was not perfect," Shanto said.
Shanto survived a few close shouts before getting out to Sajid after scoring 30. He played a lot of sweep shots and nearly got out while playing that shot off Nauman, only the front-foot no-ball saving him.
"On a turning track, the possibility of getting out leg-before is less. On such pitches, batters rely heavily on sweeps," Shanto mentioned.
The southpaw mentioned that Bangladesh can still draw this match from here. "The beginning tomorrow will be important. If Shakib (Al Hasan) bhai and Taijul (Islam) bhai can build a good partnership, then we will be in a safer position. We have to bat really well in the next innings. It's possible for us to save this match," he stated.
