Openers' form not a concern at all – Ashraful

Bangladesh batting coach Mohammad Ashraful backed openers Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Shadman Islam despite their below-par performances in the opening Test against Pakistan.

Joy scored 8 and 5 respectively, while Shadman managed 13 and 10 in the opening Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Many are questioning whether the pair will retain their places for the second Test, especially after selectors included in-form Tanzid Hasan in the squad. Ashraful, however, feels it is too early to press the panic button.

"No, it is not a matter of concern at all. If you look at the last Test series, our opening partnerships in the three innings were outstanding; we had 100-run partnerships. Shadman scored runs including an 80-run knock while Joy played his career-best innings of 171 (against Ireland)," Ashraful told reporters.

"Here, they didn't score in these two innings because we had to bat after losing the toss, and surviving the new ball wasn't easy. Things might not have gone as we hoped, but the experienced batters covered it up brilliantly. I hope our two openers will return to form in the next match," he said.

"In my view, those who performed recently – just two innings ago – definitely deserve more opportunities," he added.

Ashraful also said he was impressed with Mominul Haque's composure despite heavy sledging from Pakistan players.

Mominul, who scored 56 in the second innings, became only the third Bangladesh batter after Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim to cross the 5,000-run mark in Test cricket.

"Look, Mominul is playing his 76th Test match and has scored 5,000 runs for Bangladesh. He has faced these kinds of challenges many times in his career and has been successful," Ashraful said.

"He was very calm, and I think he didn't try to react against the sledging. Sledging happens… when a partnership is building, the opposition team wants quick wickets, which is why they resorted to sledging," he said.

"It's a great achievement. We expect big hundreds from him, just like early in his career. We hope to see that in upcoming matches," he concluded.

Bangladesh remained firmly in control of the opening Test despite rain interruptions on the fourth day. The hosts extended their lead to 179 runs with seven wickets in hand, with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim unbeaten on 58 and 16 respectively at stumps.