Lack of vision reflected in opening struggles
"If you lose four wickets inside the first 10 overs in any format, it is very difficult to regain momentum. Even partnerships of 200 or 300 runs won't help you get a big score," was the realisation from Bangladesh Test captain Mominul Haque after an eight-wicket loss to Pakistan in the first Test in Chattogram.
Mominul was spot on. It is the top order of Bangladesh, specifically the opening pair, that has been the discernible low point and the major reason behind the Tigers' failure in Tests and other formats.
As opposed to Pakistan openers Abid Ali and debutant Abdullah Shafique -- who stitched together 100-run stands in both innings, only the second time that Pakistan openers have put on a hundred-run stand in both innings of a Test match since a Test against South Africa in 2003 -- Bangladesh's first four batters scored a total of 67 runs in the two innings combined.
Even Mominul admitted that it was the gulf in quality between the opening pairs and top order that decided the outcome despite the fact that Mominul's troops went into the second innings with a 44-run lead.
In particular, the opening fiasco has been an age-old problem for the Tigers in the format. In the eight games played in the two cycles of the World Test Championship (WTC) so far, five different opening pairs have contributed only 17.79 per cent of the side's total runs. Moreover, both of Bangladesh's openers were dismissed for single digit scores on five occasions in those eight games.
It is probably unfair to point fingers only at the openers, given that the national selection panel's process and thought are equally, if not more, at fault for the torrid aforementioned figures.
The selection of Saif Hassan, whose weakness in negotiating pacey deliveries directed towards his body was brutally exposed by the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali in the Chattogram Test, raised a lot of questions.
Saif's abysmal technique also served as definitive proof that Bangladesh's domestic circuit is nowhere near the international standard as the 23-year-old came into the squad boasting 3,000 runs in his first-class career.
While Saif failed horribly, Pakistan opener Shafique made hay with two consecutive fifties on his debut despite getting a call to the squad after just four first-class outings. That not only goes to show the gulf between the two country's domestic structures, but also points out the selectors' inability to recognise talent that is fit and ready for the national outfit.
The selectors added Mohammad Naim for the first time to the Test squad for the second game against Pakistan and it seems that the chop-and-change in the opening slot will continue. The only thing missing will be planned thinking about a problem that has been affecting the country's cricket for years.