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We need to prepare better mentally ahead of 2020 season: Mominul Haque

Sentinel Digital Desk

Kolkata: Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque said here on Sunday that his team needed to work on its mental strength ahead of the long Test season next year.

"As a team we have not been able to play well, be it batting or bowling. There are a lot of areas to improve. If we improve, we can give a good account of ourselves next year. We have about 10 Tests lined up in 2020," Mominul said at the post-match press conference.

"You must be aware that we don't play Tests frequently. We will play about 10 Tests next year, and hopefully we will put up a much improved show.

"We all need to prepare better mentally. Hope we will become mentally stronger and improve day by day. But we will need some time. The message to our young batsmen is to learn well from this series... Results will come in the future," the newly appointed Bangladesh captain said.

Asked if Bangladesh Cricket Board's decision to play pink ball Test without any preparation was a good one, Mominul said they had to play Day-Night Test someday, therefore it was not a problem.

"We had to play today or tomorrow, so it's fine. We may have failed, but we had to start somewhere," he said.

Mominul was asked to lead the side after regular skipper Shakib-Al Hasan was suspended by the ICC just before the India tour, while Bangladesh's all-time leading run-getter Tamim Iqbal also skipped the series due to personal reasons.

Mominul had a woeful run with the bat in the series with scores of 37 and 7 at Indore, while he was dismissed for a duck in each inning of the Kolkata Test. IANS