'Pacers need more time'

There have been a lot of questions over the Tigers' performance in the first Test against South Africa, with even Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim lashing out at his pacers and questioning their ability after a crushing 333-run defeat in Potchefstroom.

The pace bowling trio of Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed and Shafiul Islam managed to scalp just five wickets in a combined 105 overs in the first Test and bowled toothlessly compared to their South African counterparts.

According to Mushfiqur, the pacers failed to bowl proper line and lengths but Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza believes that it is difficult for pacers to improve overnight. Instead he said they would need to concentrate more in the domestic circuit to gain experience for longer version cricket.

"Bowling in Test cricket has always been our biggest concern because you have to bowl for long periods and provide breakthroughs. Spinners have dominated in recent wins against England and Australia at home and it's never easy to change the bowling approach in Test cricket overnight," Mashrafe told reporters at a programme of a mobile phone company in the capital yesterday.

"Those who are out of the team will have to concentrate more on domestic cricket for a longer period and it's not like after playing well for three-four matches you are going to perform better in Tests. Test cricket is not easy, the batsman will give you challenges. But I would say that they are very inexperienced and I believe they will improve the more they play and gain experience," Mashrafe continued.

However, the inspirational captain opined that the demoralised cricketers should be backed after their disappointing show in the first Test and added that if they were able to stage a comeback in the second Test it would help boost their confidence for the upcoming limited-overs series as well.

Criticism was also levied at the Tigers' inability with the bat as the visitors were bundled out below 100 after 10 years, collapsing to 90 all out in the second innings after posting 320 in the first innings. However Mashrafe backed them as well.

"I think it was a bad day for us and if you have been there you have an idea how difficult it is for our batsman in such conditions. A few of our batsman got set but if they could have made it a big knock then it would have been better for us. What happened in the second innings can happen any day in cricket and obviously it was disappointing but I think they should move forward," Mashrafe concluded.