Indian batsmen will want to dominate us: Mehedi Hasan

It wasn’t long ago when the young Bangladeshi off-spinner Mehedi Hasan had spun his web across the visiting English batsmen in a home Test series. He scalped 6/82 and 6/77 in the Dhaka Test when Bangladesh registered their first ever Test win against England. Ravichandran Ashwin, arguably the master of the trait that Mehedi deals in, was mighty impressed with his work.

He had tweeted back then, “This offie is good. Mehedi Hasan.” Needless to say, now Mehedi is keen on exchanging a few tips and tricks with Ashwin during Bangladesh’s tour to India. Bangladesh will play their first ever Test match on Indian soil ever since being inducted among the Test playing nations in 2000. They will play a one-off Test against India at Hyderabad starting on February 9 before heading to Sri Lanka for a full tour.

As per the quotes in Wisden India, Hasan spoke at length about the various prospects the short tour has in store for him and the Bangladeshi side. Talking about Ashwin, he quoted that he wishes to exchange a few words with the Indian offie. Playing against him will only help him get better in the trade.

“I haven’t met him yet but I will try to speak to him at some stage. There are restrictions, so I can’t meet him now. We will definitely see each other during the game. I am always keen to know and learn about the game. He is the No. 1 spinner in the world. I focus on his bowling whenever I see him on TV – I try to see where he is pitching the ball. To see him in person, playing against him and watching him bowl will be a new experience for me. It will help my future as a cricketer,” said the young offie.

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Speaking about his personal intentions, he noted that he tends to lose his concentration if he tries to takes wickets. He will rather be focusing on bowling tight lines. He cited that the team had performed well in New Zealand albeit the scorecard did not suggest so.

“We did well in New Zealand, though we didn’t win. We have to give our best here. This is our first Test in India. They are the No. 1 Test side in the world, so we will feel better if we can perform well against them. My target will be to try to play according to my strengths – try to bowl consistently in the right areas. I don’t bowl to take wickets, because when I do that, I lose my control sometimes. The plan is to bowl in the right areas – that’s all,” said Mehedi Hasan.

Bangladesh played a warm up match against India A recently and Hasan went wicketless during the game. Commenting on being outplayed by the India A side in the match, the off spinner reckoned that the match only helped them get used to the conditions. He knows that the Indian batsmen will come hard at them and hence the idea would be to stop them from doing so.

“The practice match was helpful for us to understand the conditions. We have played in different conditions in the last few months. The Indian batsmen will want to dominate us, which he have understood in the practice game. They will always look for runs so we have to bowl accordingly and try to stop them from scoring quickly. We have to prepare mentally first,” he remarked.