C T Online Desk: Bangladesh pace bowling coach Andre Adams said on Saturday that they are paying the price of dropped catches as Sri Lanka capitalize it on the opening day of the second Test, making 314–4 at stumps.
Mahmudul Hasan Joy dropped Nishan Madushka on 9 in the day’s sixth over and the right-handed batsman made the most of it making 57 runs adding 96 runs with Dimuth Karunaratne in their opening pair after they opted to bat.
Karunaratne survived a run-out on 18 and his catch was dropped by Shakib Al Hasan on 22 runs in the post-lunch break and he made them pay the price making 86 runs while Kusal Mendis’ 93 helped the visitors end the day with a commendable total on the board.
“Dropping catches will continue to cost us if we keep doing it. Like the Sylhet Test, there were periods of pressure but not for long enough. For us to compete and be excellent, we need to be excellent for longer,” Adams told the reporters after the first day at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Saturday.
“You will struggle if you drop catches in any game of cricket. Our fielding is impressive since I have joined Bangladesh. Our ground fielding is excellent. There’s been some excellent catches. However, when you drop a catch early, you can pay the price,” he said.
“We have dropped too many catches. We are working on it. Nobody means to drop it. They are doing the work, but they are dropping catches. We have to continue to work on taking catches,” he said, adding that they need to bowl better for a longer period of time if they want to make a game out of it.
“We have to bowl really well tomorrow (Sunday) morning and much better than today, for longer periods. They have two very good batters at the crease. They have one more very good player. Then we can put some pressure on them,” he said.
“We have seen in the past that if you are not good enough for long periods, they will take the game away from you,” he said, adding that they need to be more careful with reviews after Bangladesh lost a couple of it due to bad decisions.
“It is something that we are discussing. We are not really good with reviews. That’s very clear. So far, we have been awful. We have to develop a much better method. That’s completely under captain and wicketkeeper. Maybe the point fielder. The one we are using isn’t working,” he further added.
“I think we are probably emotions rather than fact at the moment. It was straight off the middle of the bat, so it is not a great review. I also don’t want people to be afraid to take reviews. We just have to find a better method,” the pace bowling coach concluded.
