AFGHANISTAN VS BANGLADESH IN UAE, 2025
Jaker Ali has looked a pale shadow of himself in recent times © Getty
Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons has backed out-of-form T20I skipper Jaker Ali, insisting there is no problem with his batting.
Jaker, who scored 32 runs at number four and played a part clinching the three-match T20I series with one game in hand, has looked a pale shadow of himself in recent times. Before this innings, Jaker had failed to reach double figures in his last five outings, drawing heavy criticism for his performance in the recently-concluded Asia Cup.
“When you look around the world, international batsmen fail a couple of times,” Simmons told reporters when asked about Jaker’s form after their win in the second game of the series. “I don’t see any problem. He (Jaker) had a couple of bad games, and that’s normal with batsmen and cricket is like that,” he said.
Simmons also expressed satisfaction with the way his side is winning tight matches.
“First of all, I think the match was an excellent match all around. I think it was a much better game than yesterday. I think the wicket played better for longer today, so it turned out to be a much better game. We have a number of middle-order batsmen in our team, and on any given day, we give different players a chance. We played with those that were here today, and they did the job. Everybody keeps improving, so that’s all we ask,” he said.
“The good thing about winning close games like this and continuing to do that is that you gain the confidence when you are coming to a close game,” he said.
“It’s good that we are doing that (winning close games) but it’s not good for any of us, our hearts can’t take it all the time,” he added.
Simmons praised Nurul Hasan for his match-winning unbeaten 21-ball 31, while also noting how others handled Afghanistan’s spinners effectively.
“We played their spin well. That is their strength, and we did well. We played their spin well, at least today. Yesterday we didn’t do that very well, but today we played their spinners a lot better. We did what we came to do today,” he said.
“Today he (Nurul) played a really great knock and brought us back from a stage where Jaker and Shamim started it and he (Nurul) finished it for us. That’s what we have been asking our batsmen to do, to make sure that they take responsibility when they get the chance,” he opined.
On the bowling front, Simmons stressed the importance of hitting the right areas in Sharjah, given the dimensions of the ground. “I think we just need to bowl in the right areas. On Sharjah wicket on this side of the wickets of the square, you have to bowl fairly straight, wicket to wicket, and our bowlers have done that,” he said.
“I think our bowling has been improving consistently, and it is at a stage now where we know we can depend on our bowling, whatever combination we use. I think our bowling has been that good over the last five, six, or seven weeks. It is part of our growth. I think the bowling has put us in this position for the last two games. Yesterday, they started really well, and we pulled them back. Today, they started well, but we bowled well in the middle and especially at the end,” he concluded.
© Cricbuzz
