KOLKATA: This was in 2004. After the then Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said at a press conference before a series against India in Dhaka that his team believed it could match Sourav Ganguly’s men, the first question shot at him was: “On what basis are you saying that?”
Fifteen years down the road, Bangladesh captains continue to face tough questions from their media. Tough, probing and downright stinging, they flew in thick and fast towards Mominul Haque after the capitulation inside three days in the day-night Test at Eden Gardens.
“For how long shall we hide behind excuses?” said one. “Why does Bangladesh continue to look so disjointed?” came another. “Why do the batsmen look as if they are afraid of facing fast bowling?” They came from all corners, relentless and at times, almost ruthless.
Poor Haque, who had a decent Test average of around 40 before this game in which he returned a pair, tried to put up a positive front by coming up with honest replies.
“Playing the first Test with the pink ball was tough, but the manner of defeat hurts. As a team, we have failed to deliver. There are a lot of things to learn for us from this series, especially in terms of how to prepare. Hopefully, you will see those when we play more Tests next year.”
A part of what Mominul had to contend with were pieces of advice more than questions. Some said whether Bangladesh should abandon their Plan A for home Tests, which is preparing spinning tracks. Before arriving in India, they played a Test against Afghanistan with four spinners and lost. This dependence on spin makes them one-dimensional and catches them off guard when they travel.
“Look, it’s not as if our players are afraid. We play most of our domestic cricket on pitches that we don’t get when we play abroad. So the preparation has to start from that level. We should have more sporting wickets to encourage fast bowlers and help batsmen get used to fast bowling. The process has started I believe and we should see the results next year.”
The question-answer session went on for close to half an hour. For the skipper of a team that was battered and bruised on the field, it was a long time. But then, that is something Bangladesh captain have to put up with from time to time.