‘Transitioning to Test temperament was found to be difficult’

BCB's chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu identified a few problem areas following the recent debacle in the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

While talking to reporters yesterday he said that batters found transition from shorter-version to red-ball cricket difficult while also reiterating the need for playing on the kind of sporting tracks that were seen in Sylhet and Chattogram.

"Our performance in Test cricket was disappointing. It is not like result had to come our way but we wanted our team to compete more and perform better," said Lipu when addressing the media in Mirpur yesterday, the first time since his appointment as chief selector. 

"We wanted to play on sporting wickets because we have to play lot of Tests abroad. We wanted to judge our strengths and weaknesses and so we had gone for this kind of wicket. Probably that is the reason we are disappointed because our lackings were exposed and our team management would certainly work on those areas in the coming days," he said.

He brought particular attention to the batters' temperament and application.

"The way we got out was not good. They got out before settling down and if they had known where their off-stump was, they wouldn't have got out trying to chase those deliveries. Some were found going for shots the first ball they played in the match. They could not bat with a Test temperament," he said.

Lipu also identified that batters had been getting out to similar ploys being used against them.

"The bowlers have repeatedly deceived us by creating angles. This is not the first series that this has happened. I think it is a repetition. We should take this seriously," he said, adding that coaches and analysts have already detected errors that would be communicated to the players.

There has been question marks over how well Bangladesh prepared for the series and Lipu said he was aware of the problem. There were no warm-up fixtures as players coming from BPL, played the T20I and ODI series before taking on Tests.

"Even three-day matches can definitely help with preparations. Especially after white-ball cricket, opening the Test window and transitioning to that temperament, has been found to be difficult in our observation because they were playing the Test match in somewhat of an attacking mode. It may have been a reflection of shorter-version," he said.

Lipu said that talking to players such as Mominul Haque, who brought up difficulties of preparation and handling challenges of international cricket, would be of importance.