Pace Bowling firepower Running Thin

Losing to Zimbabwe in Tests is bad enough. Losing in four days against them is a farce. Losing by 335 runs and calls of being stripped of Test status may just start to appear again. But failing to take 20 wickets on a sporting track? That is something that cannot be explained easily.
It's truly difficult to put into words the magnitude of the failure. But it is something that has been at the root of our Test results from the time the ICC deemed us Test worthy. We are good enough in the spin department as we have been for the most part of our cricketing history, but apart from one Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, our pace bowling department remains vastly barren.
Robiul Islam has made a promising start but there is no one to support him in that department. You would think bowlers like Rubel Hossain would have developed into a far more complete article by now but he has shown no signs of understanding how to bowl in the longer format of the game. He has the pace but his over-reliance on bouncers, which might have worked for a couple of ODI's when he started his career, has turned into his undoing. He needs to better understand his game and his strength's in the longer format.
On the other hand, the bowling reserves consisting of Nazmul Hossain and Shafiul Islam remain a headache for the selectors with their recent battles with injury. Both are more than handy operators in ODI's if conditions are right but their Test readings remain grim. Then there is Abul Hasan who came in as a specialist bowler, scored a century with a bat and then made up for it by scoring one with the ball.
So that leaves us with Sir Shahadat Hossain who has his name in the Lord's honours board for taking a five-for against the English in the summer of 2010. Sadly, the only thing that has been worth mentioning about his bowling is his Sharapova-like grunts during delivery while his pace gone down from 135 to 125kmph.
Former Captain and current Selector Akram Khan once said back in the winter of 2011 during the home series against West Indies that the bowlers should spend a couple of months during their off season in Pakistan with their bowlers. “They should follow how they train, eat what they eat, down to a T. Maybe then we will see some marketed improvement among up and coming fast bowlers.
”It may have been tongue in cheek but it shows that even the selectors are listless when it comes to our fast bowling woes.
Perhaps it could be down to our bowlers not playing enough of the longer version of the game, or our pitches and conditions not being suitable for fast bowling. Or maybe it could be down to lack of work ethic or the diet. Or it could even be lack of proper guidance from coaches from the grassroots or lack of Bangladeshi fast bowlers to look up to and follow suit. Perhaps it could be a mix of all of the above. Whatever the underlying reason(s) may be, our cricket board needs to take a closer look at it and try to rectify them as swiftly as possible. Every good Test side depends on a bowling line-up capable of taking 20 wickets in all conditions. Take Pakistan for example. Without a strong pace bowling line-up backing up the spinners, the Tigers cannot realistically expect Test match victories or even be competitive in away conditions in the near future.