DHAKA, June 14, 2023 (BSS)- Afghanistan coach Jonathon Trott urged his bowlers to be accurate and competitive in order to put Bangladesh in pressure in the one-off Test.

Bangladesh reached 362-5, capitalizing on Afghanistan's poor bowling and looked heading towards taking a complete control of the game.

Trott said if the bowlers failed to be accurate and don't learn from the mistakes, the game will be thrown away. 

"I don't think we bowled as well as we should have. I think there's a bit in the wicket. We saw that when we got the ball in the right areas consistently for long enough, we created chances," Trott said after the game of day one.

"All the things we need to do well in Test cricket, to do things relentlessly and to be accurate and precise. We need to do better tomorrow. It was a good lesson for the guys," he added.

Afghanistan made a good start to the game with debutant Nijatullah Masood claiming the wicket of Zakir Hasan in his first delivery to leave Bangladesh at 6-1. But they couldn't take the stranglehold as Najmul Hossain Shanto (146) and Mahmudul Hasan Joy (76) put on 212-run for the second wicket to give Bangladesh the control, capitalizing on their erratic bowling. The hosts then never let the game away. 

"There's always hope when you get an early wicket. The no-balls didn't help. A wicket off a no-ball. These are little things we have to brush up on," Trott said.
 
"We didn't bowl well at all. We weren't accurate enough at all. You have to be accurate if you want to be competitive in Test cricket. We weren't able to put the opposition under pressure. We did it for a little bit, but not for long enough," he said.

Trott said their lack of experience in Test cricket also was responsible in the wayward bowling. 

"Bangladesh is playing 12 Tests in the next calendar year. Afghanistan has played one in 27 months. It shows the difference of average experience in terms of how many Tests that some of the Bangladesh players have played. You can't buy that," he revealed.

"Some of the players have played 10-15 FC matches, and are playing a Test match today. Those are the tough things. Teams like Afghanistan and Bangladesh had to start somewhere. In the Test arena, this is that phase for Afghanistan."

Trott however didn't hold hot and humid condition as responsible for their poor bowling. 

"There was a lot of cramping. There was also a lot of stoppages. Bangladesh players were always taking off their thigh guards. I think it was 45 (degrees) in the middle for most of the day. That's pretty extreme for Test cricket. Never mind even T20s or ODIs. Good learning curve for our boys."