Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons wants his batters to step up as the Tigers prepare for the second Test against West Indies in Sylhet on Thursday.
Bangladesh have struggled since their historic Test win in Darwin. They have failed to win any of their last seven international matches.
Simmons believes poor batting has been one of the main reasons behind the team’s recent results.
“Since Darwin, yes, we haven’t, and particularly we haven’t batted well,” Simmons said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“We showed what we’re capable of there if the determination and things to bat is there, but since that, we have not batted well in the formats we’ve played.”
Bangladesh’s batting problems continued in the first Test against West Indies in Mirpur. The hosts failed to build on their strong start and suffered a collapse in the second innings.
West Indies took advantage and won the match by eight wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
However, Simmons believes Bangladesh can return to winning ways. He said the players have been working hard in training but have failed to show the same quality during matches.
“Well, I don’t think it’s hard to replicate. I think the one thing I can tell you is that the guys have been working hard,” he said.
“It’s just not been put in place in the match, you know, and we just have to make sure that we get to that level again where we put it in place in the match and not just work hard outside.”
The Bangladesh batters also struggled against West Indies spinners Jomel Warrican and Roston Chase in Mirpur.
Simmons admitted that his players failed to deal with the two spinners and must improve in Sylhet.
“Look, we agree that and we take it upon ourselves that we didn’t bat as well as we could do. They bowled well, but again, that’s Test cricket, they’re here to bowl well,” he said.
“So we have to step up the way we bat and how we play them, how we score against them, how we defend against them, everything which we didn’t do properly in the first Test match.”
Bangladesh will also make changes to their batting order as Mominul Haque will miss the second Test.
Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto is likely to move up to number three in Mominul’s absence.
“Yeah, most likely there’ll be a reshuffle, but most likely the skipper will have to go and bat three,” Simmons said.
The Bangladesh coach also sounded positive about the pitch in Sylhet. He expects a good surface for both batters and bowlers.
“The whole square looks good, the wicket looks good, so it looks similar to that. When we come tomorrow morning, then we’ll see where it’s at finally,” he said.
Bangladesh must win the final Test to level the series. Another defeat would extend their poor run and hand West Indies a series victory.
