‘If they stick, they stick’

If Australia, rejuvenated by the superb batting of David Warner, do make the 155 more runs required to win the first Test on the fourth day, many eyes will be cast back to the eighth over of Australia's second innings when Warner, on 14, offered a sharp chance that burst through Soumya Sarkar's hands at slip. 

With Soumya also looking uncomfortable at slip when the spinners were bowling in the first innings and Steven Smith offering some hard-hit chances to Imrul Kayes at short leg in the second dig, Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal was asked whether he was happy with the close-in fielders.  

"These two areas are very difficult to field in. I would say that our best possible fielders for that position are manning those areas," Tamim said after the day's play. "Imrul has been fielding there for a long time, plus Soumya is a good slip fielder. In these positions even seemingly easy catches are very difficult. And it's not that they just come to the match and start cold; they work very hard at it."

Tamim even went so far as to say that he would not necessarily call them catches.

"Just because it hit the hand and dropped to the ground does not mean it's a catch," Tamim retorted when pressed on the issue. "If they stick, they stick. It was not an easy catch that they dropped. The one with Soumya... it was too quick. 

 "I think that just like our cricket is improving, our slip catching has improved too. If you compare to two-three years ago, we have improved a lot in that department, we take a lot of wickets. 

But when asked whether Bangladesh would have been in a better position if those were taken, Tamim said: "Of course, the two catches were from Smith and Warner."

While the 'chance' offered to Imrul early in Smith's innings was too hard-hit for a fielder to react, and Imrul was not much more than an inanimate  barrier that stopped the ball, Soumya did have the time to reverse-cup his hands in an attempt to catch Warner's edge. Unfortunately for Shakib Al Hasan, the bowler, and Bangladesh, it did not stick.