Bangladesh’s away struggles

Bangladesh's second Test against South Africa at Bloemfontein was their 49th Test away from home.

In Bangladesh' last tour of South Africa they were handed innings defeat in both Tests. After two heavy defeats to South Africa this time around both at Potchefstroom and Bloemfontein, questions have been raised about Bangladesh's away performances in the Test circuit.

After 49 Tests Bangladesh have four away victories. Two came against West Indies during the 2009 tour when they won the series 2-0. Their third victory came against Zimbabwe at Harare in 2013 where the Tigers won the second Test to draw the two-Test series 1-1. Tigers' last away win came against Sri Lanka on March 2017 at Colombo where they pulled back level to draw the series 1-1.

If we compare Bangladesh's away records to other International sides after their first 49 Tests, we find that New Zealand had one fewer win than Bangladesh after 49 away Tests. Asian powerhouses India and Sri Lanka both had the same number of away wins as Bangladesh after 49 Tests --Pakistan had  five and South Africa six.

However Bangladesh lost 42 of their 49 Tests, compared to which India lost 30. Bangladesh also top the list of teams with the most number of heavy defeats.

Tigers have 23 innings defeat, one Ten-wicket loss and five 250-run plus defeats in away Tests.

Overall, Bangladesh have 29 heavy defeats compared to 17 for South Africa, 14 for Sri Lanka and 13 for India.

Shaun Pollock's assessment during the second Test gives cause for concern. The former fast bowler and South Africa's higest wicket-taker had asked: "Do they want to play great cricket away from home? I am not sure. Maybe that's not an objective for them. Maybe they want to play well at home compete in ODIs away."

(Source: ESPNcricinfo)