Bangladesh struggling to adapt to Zimbabwe's bounce, admits Ashraful

Bangladesh batting coach Mohammad Ashraful admitted on Wednesday (July 8) that his batters are struggling to adjust to the extra bounce on offer in Zimbabwe.

Bangladesh arrived in Zimbabwe on the back of four successive Test wins before suffering an innings defeat in the one-off Test. Coincidentally, they had also won four consecutive ODI series before Zimbabwe put them on the brink of a series defeat by winning the opening match of the three-ODI contest.

Bangladesh now face a must-win second ODI in Harare on Thursday (July 9). Ahead of the game, Ashraful, who made his international debut against Zimbabwe in Harare, urged his batters to adapt better to the conditions and the challenge posed by Zimbabwe's tall fast bowlers.

"Our batsmen played very good cricket in our home country for the last seven months. We came to Zimbabwe on our last tour in 2022, and we had to struggle there too. We still haven't been able to do well in the two innings of the Test match and this first ODI," Ashraful said. "Maybe we couldn't make the adjustment in this place. The bounce is definitely a little extra. Although for the last seven months we have tried to play on good wickets in Bangladesh and were playing well, the conditions here have a little extra bounce."

Ashraful was full of praise for Zimbabwe's pace attack, saying their height has made life difficult for Bangladesh's batters. Zimbabwe's pace battery is led by 6ft 7in Blessing Muzarabani and 6ft 6in Richard Ngarava, with Brad Evans standing at 6ft 1in and Newman Nyamhuri at 5ft 11in, giving the hosts a significant height advantage.

"Since I made my debut against Zimbabwe, I have played in these conditions. I think the pace bowling unit that Zimbabwe has now is a very good one. They are tall and they are getting extra bounce from these wickets. Our batsmen may be missing that area, but we are working on it," he said.

Despite the disappointing start to the tour, Ashraful backed his batting unit to bounce back in the remaining matches. "I am sure that in the next two matches our batsmen will get into their rhythm, God willing. The mistakes that they made, they will recover from in the next two matches. Of course, we did not expect the performances we have produced. I am sure that in the next two ODIs and three T20Is, our batsmen will perform the way they have been playing in Bangladesh over the last six months."

Ashraful also pointed to the larger boundaries in Zimbabwe and felt Bangladesh had little luck in the opening ODI. "I would say we were a little unlucky. Especially in the last ODI, if you notice, those who got out early were a little unlucky as all the shots they played went into the hands. One thing is that when we play in Bangladesh, the boundary size is around 60-65 metres, but here it is almost 73-75 metres," he said.

"I would say we were a little unlucky. If you see the shot Tamim played, it was unlucky. Soumya Sarkar's shot also went straight to a fielder. The shot Tamim played went exactly the opposite way because of the bounce. I think this is a place where everyone is trying to adjust."

He reiterated that Zimbabwe's pace attack has made batting particularly challenging. "The conditions are not so easy and batting here is not so easy. I think the Zimbabwean fast bowlers are quality fast bowlers. All four fast bowlers are bowling at a very good line and length, and they are getting extra bounce because of their height."