‘We missed out on an opportunity’

Captain Shakib Al Hasan said all Bangladesh batters have got some technical flaws and the visitors need to display a combined effort to change their fortune in Test format as Bangladesh faced a comprehensive seven-wicket defeat over West Indies in the first of the two-match Test series in Antigua yesterday.

Bangladesh were bundled out for just 103 in the first innings and batting remained the main area of concern for the Tigers in the second innings as well.

On five occasions in their last five Tests, Bangladesh lost their top five batters inside fifty or less runs on the board. According to Shakib, it is not just about the mental aspect but the technical flaws need to be rectified quickly in order to change the fortune of his side.

"There are a lot of technical problems and I think we don't have many technically sound players in our team. Everyone has got some technical flaws and they have to find a way on how to score runs and stay in the crease, which is very important," Shakib told the media after the game yesterday.

According to the Tigers new Test captain, the first hour of the first innings was crucial as the visitors were never able to come back since then. However, Shakib also finds some positives as he praised the bowling department and urged the batters to give something for the bowlers to fight for. "But overall I am happy with the overall game as I won't say there were higher expectations than that. I think we had the ability to do something good and we missed out on an opportunity," he said.

The question was there for Shakib, who scored fifties in both the innings, on how to work on the technical aspects of the batters. Shakib said that it's the coaches' job and rather he would want to stick to his own responsibility and urged others to play their roles properly.

The 35-year-old also stated that despite the poor show from all the batters the Tigers were not far behind and a tally of 500-550 runs in two innings could have helped the visitors become more competitive in the match.

Meanwhile, Mominul Haque continued his poor form and the left-hander was dismissed on naught and four in the two innings and the question was there on whether Mominul needed a mental break in the second Test. Shakib replied, "Its hard for me to say but the thing is I always talk with him and will have it again and if he [Mominul Haque] thinks he needs a break, that can happen.

"But we have just finished a game, so it won't be a good thing to come to a decision now. Since we have a couple of days before we start training in St Lucia, we may be able to think about what should be done for the betterment of our team."