Hasan Mahmud stays positive despite fielding lapses

Bangladesh endured a frustrating day in the field, dropping as many as five catches on the opening day of the Sylhet Test, allowing Ireland to post a competitive 270 for 8 at stumps on Tuesday.

Despite the sloppy display, pacer Hasan Mahmud remained upbeat at the end of the day’s play, saying the team preferred to take the positives from the fact that chances were being created.

“It’s part of the game — catches will be dropped,” Hasan said. “But we try to take it as a positive that opportunities are coming. The fielders stay more alert for the next one. Of course, it doesn’t feel good when a catch is missed, but everyone is trying their best.”

Hasan stressed that fielding remains a key area of focus in practice sessions, expressing confidence that the team would improve in the coming days.

“I believe everyone is working hard enough on fielding. We do fielding drills every day when we come to the ground. We’re trying to get better bit by bit,” he said.

“This can happen during a game. Catch drops are part of cricket. The main thing is to recover positively — maybe we missed many today, but next time it will decrease. That’s what we focus on.”

One of those missed chances denied debutant spinner Hasan Murad what could have been his first Test wicket. In the 49th over, Lorcan Tucker edged Murad to slip, but captain Najmul Hossain Shanto failed to hold on.

Earlier, Bangladesh’s fielding lapses allowed Ireland to rebuild after losing skipper Andrew Balbirnie for a duck in the opening over to Hasan Mahmud.

Paul Stirling, dropped twice on 8 and 10, went on to play an ODI-style innings of 60 off 76 balls, while debutant No. 3 Cade Carmichael, also given a life on 10, capitalised with a composed fifty.

In the fourth over, Nahid Rana found Stirling’s edge, only for Shadman Islam to spill it at second slip.

The following over, Taijul Islam dropped Carmichael at short mid-wicket off Hasan’s bowling. Rana then forced another false shot from Stirling, but Mehidy Hasan Miraz put down a straightforward chance at point.

Murad suffered again when Shanto dropped Tucker at slip — his fourth miss of the day — before the debutant spinner finally found success, removing Curtis Campher and Tucker in quick succession.

The final chance went down late in the day when Mushfiqur Rahim, stationed at mid-off, dived in vain as Jordan Neill’s leading edge off Murad just eluded his grasp.

Bangladesh’s bowlers created enough chances to have Ireland in deeper trouble, but poor catching proved costly — a concern the hosts will hope to rectify heading into Day Two.