PHOTO: BCB

ABDULLAH AL MEHDI from Chattogram

“How was that?” Bangladesh skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz, having just lofted a delivery over mid-wicket, asked this reporter while batting at the nets yesterday. “You didn’t quite time it,” came the reply. Miraz did not seem convinced, but timing could again be an obvious issue for the batters heading into the series-deciding third ODI against New Zealand in Chattogram today.

Both surfaces used in Mirpur offered enough to make batters think twice, and even though Chattogram is traditionally a better batting venue, there remains uncertainty over how this pitch will behave, especially under intense heat that may demand constant in-game adjustments.

“I mean, it looks good… but I don’t want to read into the wicket too much,” Bangladesh pace bowling coach Shaun Tait stated.

“One thing I have noticed in Bangladesh is that it is difficult to read wickets here in general. In Mirpur, as we saw, the first game was a little bit different to the second game. And maybe that’s the beauty of playing cricket in Bangladesh,” added the former Australia pacer.

Tait’s tentativeness was matched by New Zealand paceman Will O’Rourke. While he initially sensed pace and bounce, possibly due to the greenish centre strips, he stressed the need to reassess on the go, irrespective of “whether we bat or bowl first”, further underlining the uncertainty factor.

Bangladesh, too, are looking to keep all ends covered. Heat and humidity could open cracks faster, and the foretelling of a greenish wicket may not translate into pace and bounce.

Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain was seen working on his follow-through to generate more turn, while speedster Nahid Rana, fresh from a five-wicket haul which helped tie the series, was having a dead-on serious discussion with himself as he pointed to the surface and tried to gauge how batters would fend off his length deliveries.

The onus will remain on the batters after a sub-par show in the series opener, where Saif Hassan and several others fell into the trap of variable bounce. Litton Das, meanwhile, appeared in full flow during nets, eyeing a response.

Tait said the batting group is expected “to be good all the time” and doubted whether “that’s realistic”.

“What you obviously want to see is a little bit more consistency,” he said. But regardless of the presence of consistent bounce, batters will have their work cut out in adapting to whatever the surface throws at them.

Bangladesh’s young pace sensation Nahid Rana will aim to replicate his match-winning form when the Tigers take on New Zealand in the series-deciding third ODI in Chattogram today. The right-arm pacer received a major boost ahead of the match, climbing 32 places to 64th in the latest ODI rankings after his five-wicket haul in the second game in Mirpur. He also earned high praise from Bangladesh pace bowling coach Shaun Tait, who said during a press conference yesterday: “What I really enjoyed about this series so far was his yorkers in the last game. That sort of brings back the days of Waqar Younis—fast bowlers coming in, taking wickets up top and then cleaning up the tail with yorkers. I love that.”