Bangladesh Vs Sri Lanka Joy Bangla Cup 1st Test Played at Galle International Stadium, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka 494 (BKG Mendis 194, DAS Gunaratne 85, N Dickwella 75, MDK Perera 51, Mehedi Miraz 4/ 115, Mustafiz 2/68) and 294/6 (WU Tharnaga 115, LD Chandimal 50*, Mehedi Miraz 2/77, Shakib Al Hasan 2/104) beat Bangladesh 312 (Mushfiqur Rahim 85, Soumya Sarkar 71, Tamim Iqbal 57, Miraz 41, MDK Perera  3/53, HMRKB Herath 3/72) and 197 (Soumya Sarkar 53, Liton K Das 35, Mushfiqur Rahim 34, HMRKB Herath 6/59 , MDK Perera  2/66) by 259 runs 

Man of the Match: BKG Mendis and Most Valuable Player: HMRKB Herath 

DHAKA: The pathetic performance of Bangladesh cricket in the longer version of cricket extended with Bangladesh batting crumbled like cookies on the final day of Galle test.

Set scoring 457 for an improbable win in the second innings or batting throughout the fifth day for a possible draw Bangladesh could not even bat one and a half session. Bangladesh started the day at 67/0 with all wickets intact. The wicket was turning and turning slowly. It was not impossible defending with heads down, going behind the line, grinding and grafting. But, pathetically, experienced batsmen like Tamim, Shakib, Mominul and Mahmudullah gifted away their wickets.

Soumya set the tone getting out on the second ball. It was well beyond Mushfique, Liton and Miraz rescuing the team from total embarrassment. Bangladesh lost by a huge margin of 259 runs. All 10 wickets were blown out in less than one and a half session. Lankan captain Rangana Herath grabbed 6 wickets and created history as the highest ever test wicket taker as left hand spinner overtaking Daniel Vettori. The second and the final test of the series is the 100th test of Bangladesh starts at Colombo on 15 March.

Looking back in retrospect several questions require a response from Sri Lanka-dominated Bangladesh team management. Why Bangladesh opted for three rookie pacers while home side appeared with three spinners? Two Bangladeshi spinners took nine of the 16 Sri Lankan wickets. Three Lankan spinners accounted for 15 of 20 Bangladesh wickets. The flawed strategy of Bangladesh think tank can be evidenced from this. The inclusion of Taijul in place of third seamer or an additional batsman could better serve Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi batsmen are making same mistakes match after match. What kind of one to one talk the head coach or batting coach does? What kind of mentoring the two highly paid Sri Lankan coaches did? The young Sri Lankan team literally toyed with Bangladesh. Team management owes an explanation why Bangladesh failed to prove competitive? 

In both innings, Bangladeshi openers gave good start but none of the top order batsmen other than Mushfique could carry on. Mominul, Shakib and Mominul failed miserably in both the innings. Soumya played two charmed life innings. Mehedi Miraz with bat and ball and Mushfique were the only success. Liton kept efficiently and tried resisting with the bat at the second innings. Soumya, Tamim, Mominul, Shakib and Mahmudullah looked very ordinary when they got out. The wicket was definitely not unplayable.

The wicket had usual turn and bounce. International batsmen are expected to combat such bowling. Bangladesh play most of its domestic cricket on similar slow low turning tracks. Even climate cannot be any excuse for Bangladesh. Yet Bangladesh batted very poorly. Time has come to reassess whether Bangladesh is selecting the best available batsmen for tests. Mominul is in poor form, replacement is required for Mahmudullah. Tamim and Shakib are getting out in similar fashion. Soumya plays test cricket in T20 mode. Mushfique alone cannot rescue batting all the time. Test players hardly appear in longer version domestic cricket. Shahriar Nafees, Tushar Imran, Naeem Islam and others are scoring hundreds, double hundreds regularly. Mosaddek, Shuvagata and Nazmul Hasan are waiting in the wings.

We are also not sure that Mustafiz is yet ready for the rigor of test cricket. Why Rubel was selected for the test squad? If selected, how he can be overlooked? This year Bangladesh has played tests, ODI and T20 in New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka so far and has lost all matches.

Bangladesh will play the 100th test at Colombo from 15 March. Imrul Kayes will be available there. He can replace out of form Mominul at number three. Mosaddek or Sabbir should replace Mahmudullah. Bangladesh must appear with three spinners and two pacers. Another whitewash after 100th test will be humiliating for all.
** Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 259-run in 1st test

BDST: 1627 HRS, MAR 11, 2017
SR