Team Bangladesh are poised to face yet another series whitewash after losing the first test of the ongoing Dutch Bangla Bank Test Series at SBNCS Dhaka by 7 wickets. Given the present state of the two teams and the sagging morale of the Tigers, it is highly likely that another series whitewash is on the cards. It raises the question of how Bangladesh cricket, which performed so well against Pakistan in the not-too-distant past—winning both tests comprehensively and achieving a historic series victory—can have declined so sharply. Following that historic series, Bangladesh lost both the test and T20 series in India comprehensively and played poorly in the first test at Dhaka. Now, Bangladesh has no option but to regroup and give their best in the second and final test of the series to salvage some pride. There is no doubt that Bangladesh is repeatedly failing to execute their plans. The batsmen are unable to apply themselves, graft, and grind to produce enough runs for the bowlers to defend, resulting in yet another ignominious defeat.
In soul searching we find Bangladesh top order batsmen lack skills, application and temperament in handling the pace and seam movement of the opposition pace bowlers. Middle order crumbles against spin. Sometimes late middle order fights with their back to the wall and rescue. Shanto, Mominul, Mushfique, Litton Das are the most experienced batsmen of the group. They are expected to play consistently like the senior batsmen of the other teams. But unfortunately, they fail too often. How can a team win test matches consistently if the batsmen cannot produce enough runs enabling the bowling unit to defend? Batting is the achilleas hill for Bangladesh.
We are not mentioning about opening batting as after Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes Bangladesh made regular changing and chopping of the opening partnership. In 24 years of test cricket no Bangladesh players average over 40 in test cricket. Look at other teams even Afghanistan there are a few batsmen who averages over 40 in test matches. We can blame the poor state of longer version domestic cricket for the poor state of Bangladesh in test cricket. Bowlers have started improving for personal care of bowling coaching .We traditionally had good spinners and now we have some quality pace bowlers.
In view of above let us discuss what Bangladesh can do to salvage some pride in the second test at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram starting from 29 October. Selectors have pruned Taskin Ahmed from the squad giving him rest for the upcoming ODI series against Afghanistan in UAE. Khaled Ahmed has replaced him. In the first test Bangladesh keenly felt the absence of a second pacer. Naeem Hasan the third spinner hardly made any impact. Hope Bangladesh selects a better-balanced bowling attack in the second test. But the issue is with the batting more specifically top order batting. South Africa has two quality pace bowlers in Kagiso Rabada and Willan Muldar. They have a good spinner in Keshav Maharaj.
Bangladesh batsman looked miserable against pace and spin both. Shadman Islam panicked, Shanto and Mominul looked out of sorts, Mushfique and Litton failed to deliver. Hope team think tank considers some different options with the top order. Zakir Hasan may be given opportunity. Better performing Mehidy Hasan Miraj may be promoted in the batting order. If Nazmul Shanto fails again his position in the team will be in question. Mushfique and Litton K Das must redeem. Bangladesh will need scoring at least 350 plus runs to stay in the contest. Nahid Rana should pair with Hasan Mahmood at the cost of a batsman. If 7 batsmen cannot serve the purpose 8 cannot. Bangladesh should also consider another left-arm spinner supplementing Taijul Islam as South Africans showed some weakness against left-arm spin. Bangladesh dropped some catches in the first test, Fielding should also improve, All catches must be taken. Though it is unlikely that Bangladesh will win yet even an honorable draw will be considered an achievement for Bangladesh.
BDST: 1312 HRS, OCT 26, 2024
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