Lack of practice games hurt Bangladesh in Zimbabwe, says Ashraful

Bangladesh batting coach Mohammad Ashraful believes the absence of practice matches played a significant role in the team's disappointing results on their recently concluded tour of Zimbabwe. Bangladesh returned home after winning the three-match T20I series, having earlier lost the one-off Test and the three-match ODI series.

"Previously there used to be practice games before the main matches, this option is no longer there. When we go on tour nowadays we start with the series straightaway and do not have the opportunity to get adjusted with the condition," Ashraful told reporters at the airport after the team's arrival from Zimbabwe on Wednesday (July 22). "Even though both the Test and ODI team travelled there early they didn't have the chance to play practice matches. If we had played them then I believe the result would have been in our favour."

Ashraful, however, feels the Zimbabwe tour will prove valuable ahead of Bangladesh's historic Test tour of Australia. He also believes the scheduled three-day practice match before the two-Test series will help the side acclimatise better. The two matches, part of the ongoing World Test Championship cycle, will be played in Darwin (August 13-17) and Mackay (August 22-26).

Australia, who currently lead the World Test Championship standings with a points percentage of 87.50 after seven wins from eight matches, have named a full-strength squad for the series, underlining the importance they attach to the contest.

"It will be tough in Australia, the positive is we will travel there early - 10-12 days early, we will have the opportunity to play a three-day practice match, hopefully if all our players are fit, we will be able to do well there," he said.

Ashraful refused to be overly critical of his batters despite the underwhelming tour, insisting one poor series should not overshadow the progress they have made in recent months. He also pointed out that several players were touring Zimbabwe for the first time and gained valuable experience in unfamiliar conditions.

"Our batters did really well in the last seven months, one series can go bad, one Test match went bad, the four Tests prior to that our batters played extremely well," said Ashraful. "If you notice we took the ODIs seriously, Mustafizur and the others were there, but they couldn't play due to injury, Mustafizur couldn't play from the second game.

"See we can lose one or two games, different conditions, after playing so well over the last seven months there is nothing to be morally down after losing one or two matches I believe, obviously they have gained experience from playing in different condition," said Ashraful. "Tanzid Tamim, Towhid Hridoy, Rishad, it was their first tour of Zimbabwe and first time playing in this kind of condition, they adjusted well. Tamim played outstanding, scored four fifties in six white-ball matches, looking at him it could be seen that he had adjusted to the condition seamlessly, I think it was a positive side. Yasir Rabbi played brilliantly in his comeback series. One or two matches... actually none of us like to lose, after losing obviously we have to take the positives forward."

Ashraful also dismissed concerns over Bangladesh's qualification for the 2027 ODI World Cup, saying the team remains focused on taking one series at a time. He added that the tours of Zimbabwe and Australia would aid Bangladesh's preparations for the World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.