CHENNAI: Sunil Joshi broke Bangladeshi hearts way back in 2000 when they made their Test debut in Dhaka. It was Joshi's man-of-the match effort that led to a Bangladesh defeat after they had put up a strong fight against a powerful Indian side.
Now 17 years later, Joshi is one of the masterminds behind Bangladesh's first Test win against Australia. The former India left-arm spinner is now the spin consultant of the Bangladesh side and when reminded of that November afternoon, he laughed. "That was a historic occasion. Now this one, too, is and I am happy to have made a positive contribution," Joshi told TOI from Dhaka.
His inputs were crucial as the Bangladesh spinners picked up 19 of the 20 Aussie wickets in the Mirpur Test.
"There is one delivery that the Australians are struggling to pick since the India series. I won't say which one it is till the series ends because I don't want the Aussies to come up with a counter-plan, but I picked it up when they were playing against India. I have told the Bangladesh bowlers to keep bowling that de livery and it's working," Joshi said from Dhaka. The Australians were completely at sea against
Ravindra Jadeja in India. Did Joshi suggest the Jadeja-template for left-armers
Shakib Al Hassan
and
Taijul Islam? "Of course they have seen videos of the way Jadeja and Ashwin bowled during that series. And don't forget these Bangladeshi spinners themselves have serious quality," Joshi said.
The Bengaluru man gave a lot of credit to Shakib for the way he handled the pressure situations. "There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that he is the leader of the bowling unit," he said.
Start a Conversation
Post comment