Peter Handscomb lost a lot of weight after batting on Day 2 at Chittagong

Bangladesh scripted a majestic victory only last week by defeating Australia in the first Test; a thriller in Dhaka. High on morale from the win, the Tigers posed a serious threat as the Aussies need to win the second Test in order to deny a massive slide in the ICC Test rankings. To defy the Bangladeshis on Day 2 of the 2nd Test Australia had to bat them out. David Warner and Peter Handscomb put up a courageous and resilient stand. But that came at a cost for Handscomb.

After the end of the day, it was confirmed that the right-hander had dropped 4.5 kgs weight. Handscomb braved extreme conditions to bat through on Day 2 to reply to Bangladesh’s first innings score of 305. The Aussies ended their day’s play with 225 for two. The 26-year-old  batted for more than two hours along wirh David Warner (88 not out) from the other end.

However, the right-hander, not being used to such intense heat, doubled-over and dry-heaved on the Chittagong pitch. With the temperature soaring north of 30 degrees and humidity levels reaching 80 per cent, Handscomb was forced to take several breaks in between his innings. His performance was dubbed as ‘gutsy’ by Australia coach Darren Lehmann.

Handscomb was on the verge of throwing up

The veteran Australian said, “Really gutsy, Obviously, it was pretty hot out there, and we saw that yesterday. You have to work really hard for your runs so, to get through in the way they played, was excellent. They’re in the ice baths now. We’ll leave it with the medical team to get them right for tomorrow (Day Three) but a very special day and, hopefully, tomorrow they can kick on.”

During the innings, Handscomb continuously fell on his knees, nearly throwing up. The on-field umpires, Warner, and even a few Bangladeshi players kept running to him to check on his status. Towards the end of the day’s play, the Melbourne cricketer was so dehydrated that he was unable to stand. But he didn’t give away his wicket and eventually finished the day unbeaten on 69 off 113 balls.