Radford tweak helps Atal grind maiden Test century in Bangladesh draw

Atal’s 111 built on defensive rework with Radford

Afghanistan opener Sediqullah Atal turned a white-ball reputation into Test steel in Dhaka, batting 332 balls for 111 with nine fours and three sixes to guide Afghanistan to a noteworthy draw against Bangladesh in the one-off Test.

Bangladesh needed seven wickets on the final day and looked firm favourites to seal the game. The left-handed opener displayed remarkable composure and determination to defy the odds, registering his maiden Test century and anchoring Afghanistan’s fight for survival.

Radford highlights defensive changes

Toby Radford, the Afghanistan batting coach, said he had spent considerable time with Atal, who is predominantly a white-ball cricketer, focussing primarily on his defence.

"In the first innings, Sediq was playing at slightly wider deliveries and getting caught on the crease," said Radford. "Today [during the fifth day], he came further across with his guard and his head and weight were coming down the wicket - this helped him play straighter and to judge the off stump better. He left a lot of good deliveries," he said.

"He also picked length well against the spinners and had a good stride forward and back. He is at his best when his weight is coming down rather than across the wicket - he did that beautifully in this wonderful innings today," he added.

Pybus gives credit to coach and player

Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus refused to take credit for the hundred.

"I'm not going to claim any glory for that [Sediq’s hundred] and I think all credit goes to Toby Radford and Sediq," Pybus told reporters in the post-match presser. "The challenge is being able to control sessions. For us as a side, we had some sessions where let it slip and then we had to play catch-up cricket. Overall from a wicket perspective we read it pretty well. It was an outstanding innings from him [Atal]. He'd been a little bit out of touch and so he worked really really hard in this innings," he said.

"He's at the beginning of his Test career and he's done all the work and now he only needs to carry that confidence forward," he said.

"Credit to Sediq for turning it around. Credit to Toby Radford as he's been doing outstanding work with the batting unit. We set goals coming into this game, what we wanted to deliver as a batting team within the team. We wanted hundreds and we wanted really big hundreds. Rahmat got left short without partners in the first innings, to be able to convert his hundred and credit to Toby and the work that he's been doing with the batters. He's a very good technical coach. He understands how to be able to communicate and be able to share just enough information without interfering in their game," he concluded.