Mushtaq expects spinners to come into play as Abu Dhabi Test progresses

Bangladesh spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed believes spinners will have a significant role to play as the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi progresses.

An unbeaten fifty from skipper Rahmat Shah and a gritty 26 not out from Ikram Alikhil kept Bangladesh’s bowlers at bay as Afghanistan fought back to finish the second day in a strong position. Afghanistan were 135 runs behind with six wickets in hand, leaving the contest evenly poised.

Rahmat negotiated the Bangladesh spinners with relative ease, raising questions about the hosts’ decision to opt for a two-pronged pace attack on a surface that had offered little assistance to the slow bowlers. Bangladesh claimed four Afghan wickets on the second day, three of them through their pacers, while Afghanistan’s pace trio had shared all nine wickets to fall in Bangladesh’s first innings.

Mushtaq, however, expects the spinners to come into their own as the match progresses.

“I think spin is going to play a huge role because, in the first three days, the pitch is going to go slower and obviously there’s going to be less spin. But with the passage of time, because of this weather, I think the pitch is going to start spinning more,” said Mushtaq.

“Hopefully we can defend the score and score more runs in the second innings, and hopefully we can put them under pressure, Insha’Allah,” he added.

Mushtaq also explained that Bangladesh had opted for shorter spells for their spinners, taking the extreme heat into account, as prolonged spells can leave bowlers’ fingers fatigued.

“I think, first of all, we’ve got nutritionists and good people around the players. I think water is very important and, obviously, small spells,” he said.

“Sometimes, because of the ball and your fingers in this hot weather, they get very tired. So, as a captain and as coaches, we have to make a strategy where you have to bowl small spells rather than a long spell,” he added.

Mushtaq also shed light on Bangladesh’s decision to leave out pacer Shoriful Islam, suggesting that a lack of bowling workload may have made it difficult for him to sustain the demands of a five-day Test in such conditions.

“I think he was maybe having fewer overs under his belt or maybe he was not fit enough. I’m not sure about that, but what I guess and what I am hearing, he was under-bowled,” he said.

“In this hot weather, if you’re under-bowled, it will be very difficult for a fast bowler to continue to play this five-day Test match in this weather. So I personally think, and what I know, he was under-bowled, basically,” he concluded.

Afghanistan Test opener Abdul Malik said on Saturday that he was relieved to score his maiden Test fifty after spending five years in international cricket and playing more than 10 innings in the format.

The right-handed batter, who made his Test debut in 2021, had struggled to make an impression in the format, with his place as an opener coming under scrutiny after a series of modest returns.

However, Afghanistan’s national selection panel continued to back him, and Malik repaid that faith with a career-best 62 against Bangladesh in the one-off Test in Dubai, offering a glimpse of his potential.

“Of course, a person feels very happy. It was my first Test fifty, and after 10 innings, I managed to perform, so I am very happy and relieved,” said Malik, one of the leading performers in Afghanistan’s first-class cricket.

“It’s true that I have struggled a lot. I have also put in a great deal of effort and hard work to perform well at the international level,” he said.

“We are very focused on cricket, especially four-day cricket, which is first-class cricket. Our aim was to produce good results here. So, all of this has come through hard work and struggle. This performance is simply the reward for that effort,” he added.

Afghanistan were reduced to 64 for 2 when Malik and skipper Rahmat Shah joined forces to add 70 runs for the third wicket. Malik’s innings came to an end five balls into the third session when he edged Ebadot Hossain, only for Litton Das to pull off a brilliant diving catch.

Malik said Afghanistan’s approach was to focus on building partnerships rather than looking too far ahead, with the batters also mindful of how the pitch was playing.

“Initially, when I was batting with Sediqullah, we knew there would be some swing and that they would attack us as well. So, we tried not to lose our wickets and focused on building short partnerships rather than thinking too far ahead,” said Malik.

“When Rahmat Shah came in, we continued the partnership. We noticed that the ball was coming onto the bat a little slowly, so we tried to play it a little later and stay at the crease for a long time. You can see the result of that approach,” he said.