Simmons lauds Tigers' playing style in Jamaica

Bangladesh coach Phil Simmons had his say about Bangladesh's key performers in the 101-run series-levelling win in the second Test of the two-match series against the West Indies in Jamaica on Wednesday. 

Below are excerpts of his take on Nahid Rana, Jaker Ali, and Mehedi Hasan Miraz that he shared with the official broadcast after the match. 

On Nahid Rana

I was even more impressed [with Rana in Jamaica] than I was in Sharjah because he was brilliant there. For him to be so consistent on this wicket and hitting his lengths and more so because at 5 o'clock yesterday, he was still bowling in the mid-140s. We underrated the young fast bowler's ability to assess the situation.

The things he tells me before going on to the field, I wonder whether he is playing his fourth or fifth Test match. He is impressive with pace, but also with his hunger to learn. He keeps growing, and I am sure we will see a lot more of him."

We are trying our best so that his overs are in a balanced area where we keep him from injury but keep him sharp. Hopefully, I can get him into the T20 squad and play him at least in one T20 so we can see what he has in that format.

On Miraz's captaincy and Taijul

I have been impressed with [Mehedi] having to take over from Shanto on short notice. He has taken the job and run with it. Mehedi and Taijul complement each other. Mehedi is a little bit faster and straighter, whereas Taijul uses his variations a lot.

Taijul loves hitting the stumps, so he bowls more arm balls than [conventional] spinners. He seems to be getting better every game. You could see that there was more variation and also more thought in his bowling here in every session.

On Jaker Ali and Bangladesh's second innings batting approach

Jaker scored three fifties in successive Tests, so he knows his game. We saw that he can also take on every bowler. He needs to take what he gets from here, and try to improve on it. This is not always going to be the way it is.

Whereas for the other batters, I loved the way they came out with a positive attitude. They had a survival attitude in the first few games [since I took charge]. On the third day, you saw that they were saying, 'I have come to play the game'. I loved and enjoyed it. I made sure that they know that it is the way we have to play from now on.

On batting first

I think when we had the delay and the sun was out, as hot as I felt in Jamaica for a long time, there was no question that we had to bat first. The wicket had dried out. I think breaking it to the batters… It is a team that likes to bowl first to see what's there. We had to make the running in the Test match, as were down 1-0. The decision to bat wasn't a difficult one. Giving them the confidence that I believe in you, that you can bat first here, I think that led to how we batted in the second innings. We just needed to do better than the first innings.