Hemp wants set Bangladesh batters to punish opposition bowlers’ mistakes

Bangladesh batting coach David Hemp, on September 21 (Saturday), criticised his batters for getting out after getting starts in both innings of the first Test against India at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. 

"You need to start well and once you have faced 20-30 balls, you get a bit of an idea of what's happening. You want to go on from that, especially when you have got 30-40 runs. You are generally in,” Hemp said in a press conference held after the end of Day 3. 

In the first innings, not most of the Bangladeshi batters could get a start. However, out of the four that did, three - Najmul Hossain Shanto (20), Shakib Al Hasan (32) and Litton Das (22) wasted the opportunity and got out playing rash shots instead of on deliveries that were good enough to take their wicket. Only Mehidy Hasan Miraz played sensibly enough to remain unbeaten on 27. 

In the second innings, too, the openers Zakir Hasan (33), Shadman Islam (35), Mominul Haque (13), and Mushfiqur Rahim (13) all got starts but wasted them by not converting. 

"You have done the hard work, so make sure you cash in. We did it in patches in Pakistan. We will keep talking about it, and keep working on it in practice. We have to get ourselves in first, as that's something we haven't done well enough. 

But once you get to 40-60 balls, ideally, you bat 120 balls. When you do that, you will walk away with a reasonable reward," Hemp stressed, discussing the wasted opportunities by the Bangladesh batters. 

According to the former Glamorgan player, who also represented Bermuda at the international level, Bangladesh batters should now look to cash in on the mistakes of the Indian bowlers. 

“Nullify bowlers at certain times, but be wary of where the fields are so that they can't get into a pattern of bowling at one particular person,” he said. 

"Look to score so that when they miss, we can cash in. Indian bowlers are also human. They won't execute all the time. But if you are not looking to score, you will miss out on scoring opportunities. If we are to challenge the top-ranked teams like India, England and Australia, that's the mindset,” added the 53-year-old. 

Bangladesh have a mountain to climb with two days to go in the first Test of the two-match series. They need 357 more runs to win and have their skipper Shanto (51*) and Shakib (5*) at the crease. Even with Litton and Miraz to come, adding 357 on Days 4 and 5 in Chennai looks as impossible as counting one’s hair. 

Hemp feels it’s an opportunity for Bangladesh batters to show some intent and application. “In terms of days to bat, it's still a good wicket. Yes, today we saw Ashwin get a couple of balls to bounce quite significantly. But it's still a wicket where you can score runs. So, for us, tomorrow is still a reasonable surface. 360 to win, I think? Let's see what happens tomorrow," he said. 

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