Bangladesh look to negate end-of-tour fatigue

ESPNCricinfo: The Bangladesh team is hungry enough to not let their customary end-of-tour fatigue get in the way of their improvement in Test cricket, according to Tamim Iqbal. Although there is a considerable threat of rain on all five days of the second Test in Mirpur, the pursuit of one last achievement is set to drive the home side.

The question comes up whenever Bangladesh are ending a series or a tour. There have been many instances when they have impressed at the start but end with a poor defeat. Against Pakistan earlier this year, they won the ODI series 3-0, the lone T20 and drew the first Test. But they lost the second Test, the last game of the tour, by 328 runs.

It happened against India too, when they drew the solitary Test and won the first two ODIs but lost the third one. Against South Africa, Bangladesh lost the T20 series 2-0 but fought back to win a maiden ODI series. Also, having dominated parts of the drawn first Test against South Africa in Chittagong, the team now believes that a better result is possible in Dhaka.

Tamim said that the coaching staff has kept everyone interested in training by trying things differently. They have been successful as the Bangladesh players have felt relatively fresh despite playing continuously since the World Cup.

“I think it depends on each individual’s mindset,” Tamim said. “It is true that before this year, we haven’t been able to achieve anything big. But we have done that in one-day cricket this year. Every player is hungry. They want to improve in Tests. We have a lot to improve on and if we get tired mentally, it will affect our performance.

“The physiotherapist and trainer are working closely with us. They try different types of training every day, so that nobody gets tired. We now enjoy training and team meetings. I think that if we are enjoying what we are learning, it gives you better results.”