No excuses! We didn't play well as a team: Mominul Haque

B'desh's top-scorer Mushfiqur Rahim en route his knock of 74 against India in Kolkata on Sunday. Pic/PTI

Kolkata: It's been a difficult 10 days for Bangladesh since the start of the Test series in Indore. Beaten by an innings inside three days in the first game, they barely pushed the second Test, at the hallowed Eden Gardens, to a third day as they succumbed to another crushing defeat, India becoming the first side in Test history to register four innings victories on the bounce.

It was hard not to feel for a young Bangladesh side, minus the suspended Shakib Al Hasan and veteran opener Tamim Iqbal, away on paternity leave. Especially, but not only, in the pink-ball Test, they looked completely out of their depth, leaving with bruised egos and battered bodies after being given a severe working over by Virat Kohli's pace troika.

Mominul Haque

Beaten by pace
Between them, man of the match and man of the series Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami accounted for all 19 Bangladesh wickets to fall in Kolkata, making this only the second time India have won a Test without a spinner taking a single wicket. As if to soften the blow somewhat, Kohli had words of encouragement for Bangladesh and their young skipper Mominul Haque on Sunday afternoon.

"Firstly, they don't have two of their most experienced players. Shakib's not here, Tamim's not here," the Indian captain reiterated. "Mushfiqur [Rahim] is the only one. Mahmudullah is there, but you can't push a team forward with two players. The rest are young, they will gain more experience. If they play more Test cricket, they will get more experience. If you play two Test matches and then you play after a year and a half, then you won't really understand how to figure out situations or play under pressure. "The skill is obviously there. People are playing international cricket because they're good enough to play," he insisted.

Virat Kohli

Test cricket worries
"But it's very important for them to get those match situations regularly, for them to understand how to get better at it. The [Bangladesh Cricket Board] and the players have to figure out what it [Test cricket] means to them, that's the only way you can go forward in Test cricket." Mominul refused to hide behind excuses, saying, "Losers give excuses, I am not giving it. We didn't play well as a team. We didn't have even one good partnership, like Mushfiq bhai and [Mahmudullah] Riyad had last evening. If we could put together some good partnerships, things would have perhaps gone our way. We batted poorly. Everyone knows that we don't play a lot of Tests. We have around ten Tests lined up next year, I think we can overcome these issues."

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