Bangladesh playing Rashid’s reputation, not his bowling: Mushtaq

Bangladesh spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed said the batters are focusing too much on Rashid Khan's reputation instead of playing his deliveries on merit, after the Afghan leg-spinner ripped through the middle order with figures of 5 for 17 in the second ODI on Saturday to hand Afghanistan an 81-run win and the series.

It was Rashid's sixth five-wicket haul in ODIs -- only Shahid Afridi has more among legspinners. Rashid began by bowling Towhid Hridoy in the 17th over before running through the lower order, claiming four of the last five wickets as Bangladesh were bundled out for 109 in reply to Afghanistan's 190.

Mushtaq, the former Pakistan leg-spinner now working with Bangladesh, credited Rashid's control but said the batters failed to separate the bowler from the ball.

"I think they are playing Rashid, not the ball," Mushtaq said after the game, as quoted in ESPNcricinfo. "He is not a big spinner of the ball. But he is very experienced. He is a wicket-taker. His line and length is very consistent. I think we have to sometimes play the ball, not the bowler. We have to improve quickly.

"If you have great temperament you can play against any bowler in international cricket. Rashid has been 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."

Mushtaq urged Bangladesh's middle order to be more proactive against spin. Bangladesh have averaged just 18.70 in the middle overs this series, compared to Afghanistan's 29.37, with both teams scoring at under four per over.

"You must have a better technique against spinners in middle overs, how to get singles on good balls. If you can rotate a strike, I think that will put more pressure on bowlers than yourself," he said.

Bangladesh's batting in ODIs has visibly declined, averaging 21.86 in the middle overs this year — their lowest since 2007 — compared to 35.10 in the previous two years.

"I think the ground reality is we have to sort out our batting," Mushtaq said. "They are good players, they can bat. But obviously against spinners like Rashid and all, [who are] very mature and experienced cricketers in those conditions, we have to be very proactive to playing those kind of spinners very quickly.

"I think if we can do that in the middle overs, if we can start playing spin well in those conditions, I believe that Bangladesh can challenge against any team."

Mushtaq also felt Bangladesh's recent T20I success has not translated into the 50-over format.

"I think there is an issue in batting coming from T20s into ODIs," he said. "Everything else is clicking. Our fielding standard, fitness, spin and fast bowling are all doing well. Our system is working well. They are playing good cricket. So if we sort out our batting in the 50-over format, that will be great for us. I think it is very, very important that we have to improve a lot in batting."