Handscomb recalls Chittagong battle
MUMBAI: In a space of a few months, Peter Handscomb has played two knocks that will define him as not only one of the grittiest batsman, but also the one who can do whatever it takes to get the job done.
In Ranchi, he combined with Shaun Marsh to defy R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to help Australia secure a draw.
At Chittagong, he produced an innings that had focus and application. In tough conditions, he kept pushing his body to the limit.
It was an innings in which Handscomb lost a staggering 4.5 kilos of body weight in a matter of a few hours, battling a battery of Bangladeshi spinners as well as heat and high humidity, even though the Australians are used to playing in high temperatures back home.
Recalling his struggle on that day, the 26-year-old righthander told cricket.com.au, “It was just ridiculously hot. Even though the temperatures may have been late 30s, which is something we’re quite used to in Australia.
Because it had been raining on the days leading up to the game, the heat was basically coming from underneath you, coming out of the ground because the water was evaporating.”
“I was just getting nailed heatwise from both the ground and the sky. I couldn’t get enough fluids in to make myself feel better. If I drank a little bit too much, I felt sick. We fielded first in both games, so already you’re pretty cooked going into your first batting innings.
“Just standing out there in that heat, that sun — it takes it out of you,” he added.
Handscomb had joined David Warner at a time when Australia were placed firmly but needed to score more than Bangladesh’s total of 305 in the first innings to make a strong return in the twoTest series.
They had already lost the series opener in Dhaka.
Handscomb and Warner did not disappoint. They added 127 runs at an aggressive run rate to wrest control of the proceedings, but there was a price to pay.
“At each break I had to change all my clothes because they were just drenched with sweat. I’m just a natural sweater … it was just taking it out of you and you couldn’t replace the water you were losing,” recalled Handscomb.