‘We should learn from the U19 team’ – Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque after loss to Pakistan

Mominul Haque, the Bangladesh Test skipper, wants the senior members to take a leaf out of the U19 team’s books. The Tigers lately lost to Pakistan in the Rawalpindi Test by an innings and 44 runs. The match ended in a tad over four days and Bangladesh lost their third game in succession in the Test Championship. After the surrender, Mominul wishes to take the U19 boys as an inspiration.

The U19 team, captained by Akbar Ali, won the World Cup for the maiden time. At the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom, the Junior Tigers beat India by three wickets in the final to script glory. While chasing 178, Akbar’s men lost wickets, but the skipper’s calm demeanour took Bangladesh U19 over the finishing line. An injured Parvez Hossain Emon’s 47 also helped their cause.

They have shown self-belief, says Mominul

“If you want to learn something, you can learn from your juniors and from everywhere. They can give us some knowledge on how to get good results. They really fought back on the ground and we should learn from them. We have to learn one more thing from them and that is the way they have shown self-belief,” Mominul was quoted as saying to the ICC.

Mominul rued the fact that Bangladesh couldn’t post even a single 100-run partnership after getting the measure of the conditions. “In home conditions every team is very good. They know our strength and they bowled very well. They worked very hard and it was more disappointing because we could not get even one 100-run partnership,” he stated.

During the game in Rawalpindi, a number of Bangladesh batters got out after scoring in the 20s, 30s and 40s. Speaking on the same, Mominul said, “I think it is very difficult to score big runs if you get out at 30 or 35, because then you cannot make good partnerships. We have lost the last eight or nine Test matches and we are working to overcome it.”

The day when the U19 team turned over India, the senior Bangladesh unit found it tough to counter the 16-year-old Naseem Shah. The youngster became the youngest to get a Test hat-trick, getting rid of Najmul Hossain Shanto, Taijul Islam and Mahmudullah Riyad.