Bangladesh v England: Mehedi bowled like a veteran, says Michael Atherton
Thursday 20 October 2016 13:46, UK
Michael Atherton heaped praise on 18-year-old Bangladesh offspinner, Mehedi Hasan, after he took a five-for on debut.
Mehedi opened the bowling for Bangladesh, and accounted for 33 of the 92 overs bowled on day one in Chittagong, finishing with an impressive haul of 5-64.
"What a performance from the young man," said Atherton. "It was his temperament that impressed me the most.
"He was the standout performer. You've got Shakib Al Hasan in there who is Bangladesh's leading wicket-taker in Tests, but the young man was head and shoulders above all the other spinners today.
"A lot of the talk in the build up to the game was about England's teenager, Haseeb Hameed, and about how nervous he was likely to be; inevitably so when you're 18 or 19 years-old.
"But Mehedi bowled like a veteran. He looked unfazed at the end of his mark, and tasked with the new ball and taking the second over of the day, he hardly bowled a bad ball in that first spell, taking two wickets."
"He has taken up the mantle of a senior bowler almost straight away."
Added to Mehedi's two wickets in his opening spell was one for Shakib, which reduced England to just 21-3 after 12 overs.
England rallied to 258-7 at stumps, however, with Moeen Ali top-scoring with 68, and Jonny Bairstow (52) passing 1,000 Test runs in the calendar year on his way to fifty.
"It was a fascinating day," added Atherton. "Anything over 250 looks to be a very competitive score on this pitch.
"I was pleased though it turned from the start, to take the toss almost out of the equation, so there was no undue advantage in that sense.
"It now depends on how England's spinners go. There are questions there; Gareth Batty comes back after a long break - 11 years - you've got a legspinner in Adil Rashid with just three Test matches under his belt, and Moeen's bowling hasn't quite kicked on in the last few months.
"And, if you look at Bangladesh's side, their top six or seven are pretty stable, have been around a fair while now and will be no mugs.
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"We were chatting before play today on whether it was possible for England to get four spinners in? I can't remember England ever doing that. But if they did play Zafar Ansari, who could they leave out?
"If England can get up to 300, they'll be really happy. What a pitch for the spinners to bowl on."
Live coverage of the first Test between Bangladesh and England continues with day two from 4.45am on Friday, on Sky Sports 2.
