Facing leg-spinner will not be the same in ODIs: Mashrafe
© Cricfrenzy
|| CF Correspondent ||
The Asia Cup is just nine days away and one man who is still haunting the Bangladesh national team, is Rashid Khan. The Afghanistan spinner will undoubtedly test the resilience of the Tigers on September 20, in Bangladesh’s second group-clash; hence, the cricketers have been frequently being enquired about their strategy to tackle the dangerous wrist-spinners.
Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe reiterated what the other team members have been saying over the past few days and said that the batsmen will have the luxury to spend a few overs in order to read the bowler properly, as ODIs do not require them to vigorously keep swinging the bat unlike T20Is.
He said: “Rashid Khan is certainly a world-class leg-spinner, especially in these two formats [ODI and T20Is]. One positive fact is that there is a pressure to play shots in T20Is, but it isn’t there in the ODIs. In ODIs, the batsmen will have two or three overs to assess him. It is very important to read him. And all the batsmen around the world are having problems in facing him. But before Rashid Khan, it is more important to handle Sri Lanka's spin, pace bowling.”
Although the Bangladesh fast-bowler refused to make any predictions about the upcoming continental showpiece event, he subtly expressed his hope amid the Tigers’ chances of winning their much sought-after trophy.
“I think we have the ability [to win this tournament]. If you compare us to other teams, considering the wrist-spinners and other factor, there are certain things [that’ll determine the difference]. There are better team than ours. If we can fill that gap, everything seems to be possible,” Mashrafe said.
The Tigers’ head coach informed that they are training the batters keeping the wrist-spinners in mind, as they head for the Asia Cup campaign. Jubair Hossain and Tanbir Hayder, two of the very few leg-spinners in the country, helped the batsmen hone their skills in the practice sessions.
“There’s not a lot of wrist-spinners in Bangladesh. It is something we must address. We might seriously look at scouting the whole country for wrist-spinners. It might be an opportunity to tell young wrist-spinners to keep practicing. There’s a way into a cricket team. We desperately need wrist-spinners
“We have finger spinners as role models in Shakib and Mehidy. As soon as we have wrist-spinners as role models, then the youngsters then may start doing it in the streets,” Rhodes said.
“We brought [Jubair Hossain] Likhon and Tanbir [Hayder] in the nets. Rishad [Hossain] is in the U19s. We have tried to include some leg-spinners so that our batsmen get some practice,” he added.
Even if the Bangladesh batsmen overcome their doubts against Rashid Khan in the group stage, Yuzvendra Chahal or Shadab Khan could still pose a big threat for them in the next round. So, the Mashrafe-led men will always have to attempt to “fill that gap” as long as their leg-spin worries are concerned.
