Pacers should allow to play more at home to gain experience: Gibson
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|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh fast bowling coach Ottis Gibson said they should give more chances to play their pace bowlers at home in order to gain more experiences which will provide the much-needed benefit when they go to play in overseas conditions.
The Tigers is a more spin reliable team at home in longer version cricket for which Bangladesh lined-up their team with spinners mostly where pacers got shadowed under them.
But Gibson believes that Bangladesh have potential pacers in their repertoire who can bowl at 140 kmph but they don’t get to shine their skills and techniques in the lack of the proper opportunities.
As of now, the bowling coach feels that if the seamers can play on grassy wickets and can gain their experience, they will then perform under pressure at away turf.
“I have been very impressed with some of the guys in Bangladesh -- both in BPL and in the international teams,” said Ottis Gibson, who is yet to work with the pace bowlers for the longer period after being assumed the BCB job.
“I haven’t seen Khaled (Ahmed) bowling much. He had been injured for so long. I have been told he can touch 130-140 kmph. Taskin (Ahmed), Ebadat (Hossain Chowdhury) can touch 140 kmph. Mustafizur has had his injury problems but he can touch 140 kmph. I believe Hasan Mahmud too has got a great future in the game. I believe he will also touch 140 kmph. So there are five guys who can bowl 140 kmph. When they understand what it takes to do that in terms of fitness, I believe they got the potential to do that,” Gibson told a leading English web portal.
“But we need the intent to do it. And the conditions will also have to allow and inspire them to do it. I think we need to play more in Sylhet as it has more grass on the wicket. It will allow Bangladesh to play three fast bowlers as opposed to playing just the two fast bowlers and three spinners. It’s okay to win games with spinners but when you go away and play on seam-friendly wickets, we must have to give them the opportunity to get confidence,” he added.
Citing the names of the pacers like Abu Jayed Rahi, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain Chowdhury, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmud, who have enough momentum and just in need of match experience, Ottis urged BCB to look for the development of the pacers.
“The guys I have mentioned who can touch 140 kmph have got the control. What they are lacking is that they don’t get to play enough. They just bowl one spell and then the spinners are on. Fast bowlers don’t get to bowl even 20 overs in the longer version of the game in Bangladesh, and that’s what’s lacking,” the West Indies pacer viewed.
“That’s something BCB need to look at to develop fast bowlers. You have guys with good quality but you don’t have the experience. As soon as you put them under pressure in international cricket they certainly lack the experience,” he concluded.
