Discipline and patience key in batters' success against Pakistan

Bangladesh batters put their hands up to help their side register a history-making 10-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Test in Rawalpindi on Sunday. In three days' time, Bangladesh will be looking to clinch their maiden Test series win over Pakistan when they take on the hosts in the second Test at the same venue. On Monday, Bangladesh's batting coach David Hemp spoke with The Daily Star's Samsul Arefin Khan, shedding light on their convincing win and what they hope to achieve in the following match. Here are the excerpts:

The Daily Star (DS): What a fantastic performance from the players, pulling off their maiden Test win over Pakistan, that too on Pakistan soil…

David Hemp (DH): When you play a Test match, you have to play well every day. That's why it's so difficult to win Test matches. Hats off to the players. We showed great energy and consistency on the field, kept supporting the bowlers in taking wickets, some of the catches that were taken were excellent, coupled with the batting and bowling. That was a really good win. The trick is now to turn up and do it all again in three days' time.

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DS: What was the discussion like before the final day? The wicket was still helping the batters after the end of the fourth day.

DH: Basically, we wanted to challenge the Pakistani batters' weaknesses and we stuck to that. We tried to exploit that as much as we could. It was about putting balls in good areas consistently to build pressure. We had a bit of a lead, so we hoped to dry up the runs and then pick up wickets in every 25-30 runs, hoping to have them five to six down before they levelled the score. But as it turned out, they were seven or eight down. Some days it works and some days it doesn't. I also think in the pitch, the odd ball did spin and it spun quite a bit. Maybe that had an impact on a psychological point of view because not every ball was spinning. If every ball spins, some times that can be easier to play but it was just the odd one spinning. I think the bowlers just kept the pressure and ultimately remained disciplined. Again, they were well supported on the field.

DS: But did you really think you could win?

DH: From our point of view, we thought there were two results. There was a possible win or an obvious draw. Some of the balls spun quite considerably. And I thought that brought quite a bit doubt on the opposition. You have to have patience and consistency to put the balls in the good areas and that's what I think we did pretty well across the day.

DS: Bangladesh's first inning score of 565 was their best ever total against Pakistan in Tests, what was catalyst behind it?

DH: The batting effort was all about discipline and having the mentality of leaving the ball and not worrying about taking singles, not focusing too much on going for boundaries but still looking to score and keep the scoreboard ticking along.

DS: What was the plan of the batting group before the match?

DH: What we talked about before the game was how we could set up the game from a batting point of view. Traditionally in Pakistan, the games go to the fifth day. If the bowlers keep bowling in a straight line challenging the stumps, for the batters it becomes a matter of not getting bored, taking singles and making sure you don't play across the line. From the batting point of view, we talked about putting ourselves in a position from where we can win the game. We spoke the importance of surviving the first 20-30 balls to get into the innings. Once you get yourself settled with 30-40 runs, you can make the innings count, try and go on to convert that to a significant score. We wanted to bat for a minimum of 125 overs.

DS: Do you think the lengthy preparation Bangladesh took for the series helped?

DH: Obviously, there was a little bit of disturbance for a couple of weeks before we came here because of what was going on in Bangladesh. But up until that stage, the preparation was excellent. After the Sri Lanka series, we had a discussion about what we can do better against different oppositions in different wickets. The red-ball camps while the white-ball players were away worked really well and then the HP team playing in Australia and the 'A' team playing in Pakistan certainly assisted in the individual preparation. I think that had a positive impact on the team preparation.

DS: Shadman Islam returned to the side in place of injured Mahmudul Hasan Joy and hit a brilliant 93. Having two performers for one position is a good headache to have, right?

DH: Sometimes it can obviously be a bit of a headache [laughs]. That means a difficult conversation. But you would rather have a difficult conversation because there is a lot of competition for spots than not have any conversations at all. If everybody plays well consistently and to their potential, I think the selectors and head coach will have a lot of tough decisions to make.

DS: Shakib Al Hasan's batting form has been poor for a while. Is he now being considered as more of a spinner than an outright all-rounder?

DH: After watching him practice, my personal opinion is he is still driven to succeed and perform with bat and ball. He missed out on the first innings but from whatever I have seen from him in practice and preparation, he is certainly driven to perform and do well in both skillsets. So, I personally don't see that as a concern or an issue.