As if being the national selector of a ‘never-winning’ side wasn’t enough, Athar Ali Khan has to describe Bangladesh’s depressing show on field to the world. But it is that firm belief in his boys that keeps the selector-commentator going. ‘‘Everybody has to be patient,’’ he told The Indian Express after India’s comprehensive win in the first Test. The smile that you see on television refused to go away even as he passionately defended his team. ‘‘I firmly believe defeats do not help any team. Not even the coach, for there is so much expectation. But what we have to do is to try and learn from defeats. The more we play, the better we get.’’ Bangladesh, he reckons, has been close enough to a Test victory and he has a number of positives to list. ‘‘Ashraful got a 60 here. Nafis Iqbal got 54, so they are learning, It’s taking time, I know, but it will happen.’’ The major problem for now, though, is the top-order batting. ‘‘They just have to stay at the wicket. Only if they do that will they think realistically of a win.’’ For that to happen, Bangladesh need to string together a number of partnerships while batting and fielding, Khan says. ‘‘Why is this called Test cricket? Because this is a patient game, a test of your endurance on a regular basis. If we stick to the basics then we will achieve all that.’’ Noting that this is the best combination in Bangladesh, Khan as a selector observed that the nucleus is pretty much set, because ‘‘a number of young players are learning each day’’. In some quarters there has been talk of taking help of psychologist for the Bangladesh team is being talked about, but Khan believes its all been tried and done with. ‘‘We had one (psychologist) some time back. Now we have physios, trainers the works. All the possible help has been extended to the side’’, noted Khan. There is, though, one suggestion that he believed things could improve: that’s in the way domestic cricket is run in Bangladesh. First up was the plan to introduce foreign players in first-class cricket. ‘‘The quality of cricket rises. For the players too the first-class game becomes an attractive proposition. But it’s all right now just a thought, a lot of details have to be worked out.’’
