DHAKA, June 23, 2019 (BSS)- When Rashid Khan were torn apart by England batsmen to give away a World Cup worst 110 runs in nine overs, including being smashed for a record 11 sixes, Bangladesh secretly felt a sigh of relief.
This was because Rashid, the premier spinner of the World tormented Bangladesh over the years and single-handedly won matches against the Tigers several times in ODI and T20 formats.
And there is no secret that Bangladesh is traditionally vulnerable against quality leg-spin. The euphoria was short-lived. Rashid once again proved: form is temporary but class is permanent. He hit back with bang in the match against India, baffling the batsmen of a team, which always plays spin quite well.
Rashid might grab one wicket in his 10 over, conceding 38 runs but Indian batsmen’s struggle against him was clear. Alongside Rashid, Afghans young spin prodigy Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammed Nabi also shined in way that sent an SOS in Bangladesh’s tent.
However, Bangladesh’s middle order batsman Mohammad Mithun is confident they have enough quality in the batting line up to deal with Afghan spinners. While Bangladesh were never comfortable against quality leg-spin, Mithun claimed that it’s in their genes to play spin well.
“Bangladesh has always played spinner really good, even though Afghanistan has some World Class spinners but when you get rhythm in batting whatever it may be spin or pace -adjusting to it is not that hard. Actually, batting is all about confidence and when a batsman has peace of mind he can adjust it,” Mithun said.
However, Mithun’s confidence to do well against spin lied in how they dealt with quality spinners in this World Cup. Bangladesh just lost five wickets against spinners in their first five matches. In those matches, they played quality spinners like Imran Tahir, Adil Rashid, Adam Zampa and Mitchel Santner.
Bangladesh’s batting has also been in good nick in this World cup. The Tigers scored thee 300+ scores in their first five matches, including chasing down 322 runs against West Indies and scored 333-8 against Australia, their ODI high in a losing cause.
Number one all-rounder from Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan is the second highest run-getter of this World Cup with two back to back centuries. Wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has also scored a century in the last match against Australia.
Bangladesh will face Afghanistan in their seventh match in the ongoing World cup at Southampton. The Tigers currently sit at the sixth position of the point table with five points from six games while Afghanistan are languishing at bottom losing all six matches.