Underdogs when it comes to Tests
The debacle unfolding at the picturesque Sylhet International Stadium, Bangladesh's newest Test venue that is likely to be stained by an ignominious defeat suffered by the hosts, is a story of two parts. The ending is a familiar one -- Bangladesh cannot play Test cricket well, and it does not seem as if the cricketing establishment are too bothered by it.
The first aspect is not directly related to the latest in a long line of batting failures, but it speaks to the prevalent attitude. Head coach Steve Rhodes was excited about new pace prospect Khaled Ahmed and reportedly wanted to give him a Test debut at his home ground. However, another faction of the team management wanted to play with three spinners and just one specialist pacer in Abu Jayed. The latter won the argument.
One does not have to be an insider to know that Rhodes does not have much pull when it comes to making big decisions. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan belittled him in a recent interview by saying that the Englishman is good at spotting young talent, the subtext being that he was not quite as good at running the serious business of the national cricket team.
There may even be something to the notion that Rhodes does not have much to do in ODI cricket as Bangladesh are a more than competent side in the format, but it is another story in Tests. Rhodes may have played just 11 Tests for England but he played 440 first-class matches in the 1980s and early '90s in a system that is far superior to Bangladesh's domestic scene.
In other words, he knows a thing or two about winning longer-version matches and he likely knows a bit more than a cricketing culture that has produced 10 wins in 108 previous matches. Zimbabwe have shown the value of bowling with two seamers with the new ball -- something that was obvious not so long ago but seems to have become a bad idea in Bangladesh. The prevalent idea now seems to be to let spin do the job, which at the best of times can only be half done by the bowlers.
Which brings us to the batting. In 13 innings since the start of the South Africa tour last September, Bangladesh have crossed 200 only thrice. Zimbabwe did not have to bowl magic balls on a wicket that required batsmen to spend time in the middle to score runs -- which Zimbabwe, playing their first Test of the year, had done -- as the hosts started dropping like ninepins to Zimbabwe's opening bowlers Kyle Jarvis and Tendai Chatara.
Opener Imrul Kayes and skipper Mahmudullah Riyad left their bats hanging, which just directed the balls into the stumps off the inside edge. Liton Das and Nazmul Hossain Shanto chased wide deliveries to be caught behind, while Mushfiqur Rahim defended a ball he could have left to suffer the same fate.
"We knew that they were going to come and play in that one-day mode, which will present us with a lot of chances in the Tests because the field sets will be quite attacking," Chatara said after the day's play. "I think they haven't really adjusted from ODI cricket to playing Tests, where you leave many balls."
"It's Test cricket, there's five days of play so you have to play accordingly. If you ask enough questions and they're obliging, things will happen like that. We're just trying to complement our batters, who took a lot of time at the wicket. So we have to complement them by bowling in the right areas," Zimbabwe bowling coach Douglas Hondo added.
This is just Zimbabwe's ninth Test in the last two years, and Bangladesh's 18th; Zimbabwe have 12 ranking points, Bangladesh 1,268 and the Tigers have also won the last four matches between the teams. The worst aspect from the Bangladesh perspective is not that they still seem like underdogs when it comes to longer-version ability, but -- as is proven by their denial of someone who may actually have that awareness -- that they do not even acknowledge their lack of sense.
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