Salahuddin credits Ashraful for Shadman's batting progress
Bangladesh finished the opening day at 213/3 following Shadman Islam's unbeaten 99
Bangladesh interim assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin said on Wednesday (October 28) that opener Shadman Islam has eventually found his batting template. The left-handed batter was stranded on 99 not out as Bangladesh finished the day on 213 for 3 against a disciplined West Indies attack.
Shadman, who has scored nine half-centuries and only two centuries in 31 Test matches so far, recently came under scrutiny for failing to convert his fifties into hundreds. He seemed all poised to reach the landmark on the opening day of the ongoing two-match Test series until the umpires decided otherwise.
“The whole team is nervous at the end of the day. We all wanted him to get 100 because in Test cricket he's played about 30 Tests and only scored 2 centuries,” Salahuddin told reporters following the day's play.
“I think this number should have been higher. I hope this innings helps him understand more about what it takes to actually score 100. And I think this innings can help him a lot in his later life,” he said, adding that Shadman assessed the conditions well.
“I would say he assessed the wicket very well and if you look at the whole innings he did not play too many risky shots. Sometimes we may play risky shots or there may be periods when you have tough times. At that time, we may play loose shots sometimes. But I think he assesses the wicket and passes through difficult times and then plays the innings under his control,” he said.
“I have seen an innings like this from him after a long time because he had 50-60 in many innings but it was not getting long and so I think he may have worked on that too and that is why the innings may have been long and I hope he can make it longer,” he said.
Salahuddin credited Mohammad Ashraful for Shadman's transformation while adding that he is just filling the role in the national dressing room as a guest after being asked to replace Ashraful as the national team batting coach for the two-match Test series against West Indies.
“I think he may have realized himself about his batting or maybe he has talked to the coach about it because his conversion rate is not really that high,” he said.
“He played some dominating 50s in many innings but he could not make them long. Maybe he had a problem in some process. I think it (the innings against West Indies) will help him and I think he is finding out for himself what he should be doing at that time,” he said.
“Since he (Ashraful) did a lot of work in the past, we didn't get much time and here we don't have much to change. So I think the whole credit goes to Ash. He has worked with the batsmen for the last year and if their mentality has helped in any small way or in a big way, then credit should go to him,” he added.
