Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) national selector Habibul Bashar spoke on the pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka for the second Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand. He said they had not done anything intentionally and admitted that the wicket had something to do with the ground.

The Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium pitch in Dhaka came under scrutiny after the second Test match between Bangladesh and New Zealand concluded. It was proper range spin and the batsmen had no idea how much the ball would spin.

Of the 36 wickets that fell in the game, 30 were picked by the spinners, giving a partial idea of ​​the field. BCB wanted to have a spin-friendly track but it failed when New Zealand defeated them by 4 wickets.

The pitch was even criticized by New Zealand captain Tim Southee. After the game, he mentioned that this was one of the worst pitches he had ever encountered in his career.

Habibul Bashar spoke about the preparation of the pitch and admitted that no one would have wanted to play on that wicket. He blamed the Dhaka soil for the way the pitch developed. Speaking to Cricbuzz, he explained:

“Obviously we would like to have a spin-friendly pitch against New Zealand, but the only problem when we try to prepare a spin track in Dhaka is that it turns out that way and it probably has something to do with the ground. If we had tried to take a similar wicket in Chattogram or Sylhet, it would not have been the same case.

“So I don’t think there was anything intentional regarding the wicket in Dhaka. I don’t think anyone likes to play on this type of ground because if you want to have the ideal ground, it is the Sylhet ground, where there is something for everyone. What I understand is that because of the ground, when Mirpur’s wicket is set up to help the spinners, it turns out like this.”

People stand out a lot (Dhaka wicket) – Habibul Bashar

Habibul Bashar further added that people exaggerate Dhaka’s terrain too much and emphasized that they played on different terrains against Asian teams. He highlighted that when they play on spin-friendly courts there is a lot of noise compared to playing on green courts. He added:

“I think what people don’t understand is that we stand out a lot (on the Dhaka pitch) but we don’t play on similar pitches against Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan or Ireland. However, it’s only when we play New Zealand, Australia or South Africa (we haven’t played them for quite some time) that we play on this type of ground and it gets all the attention.”

“Not long ago, when the pacers took most of the wickets against Afghanistan and Ireland and against India we had a comparatively sporting wicket, whereas against Sri Lanka we did not play on a similar surface. Our captain said that when we play with three pace bowlers no one raises their fingers, but when we play with three spinners there is a lot of talking. When we play on this type of wicket we monopolize the attention, but when we play on a green pitch we don’t have a similar type of noise.”

The series between Bangladesh and New Zealand ended in a draw. The two teams will now face each other in a three-match ODI series in New Zealand, starting December 17.