We’re getting close
Bangladesh once more flattered to deceive as Sri Lanka put the pressure on the Tigers' at the opportune moments of the game to pick up yet another series win.
The Lankan outfit, especially the bowling unit, lacked experience and yet they got more out of the Mirpur pitch, which was good to bat on. The recent set of results both home and away, leads one to think whether there are pitches Bangladesh can cope without disastrous results. Over five days, Bangladesh did show fight, but the aggression of Test cricket was perhaps not where it should have been.
Despite Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim's incredible effort in the first innings, the batting collapses in both innings took centre-stage again. The Tigers missed out on vital moments to attack when they could have gotten a grip on the game. The argument of why Bangladesh could not doctor pitches for spin conduciveness the same way they did against the likes of England and Australia five or six years ago, returned after yet another familiar debacle.
"With all due respect to past Tests, those may have hurt us going forward. When we get on good pitches, and I'm a big advocate of playing on good pitches, we come second. If we feel that we have to doctor pitches, then we have no chance away from home," head coach Russell Domingo dictated regarding the rosy home results of the past in the post-match press conference yesterday.
This argument on doctored pitches was as far as it could have gotten away from the idea of what Test cricket is about. Despite winning with pace in New Zealand only recently, the results at home appeared rosy because of the dominance shown by spinners at home against the big sides.
However, home results have been equally poor recently and while most teams try to take advantage of home conditions, doctored pitches and the experience of spin department bowling on such surfaces, often Bangladesh get the upper hand against opponents at home. But usually when another team from the subcontinent comes here, the pitches rarely help. The results against Afghanistan, Pakistan and now Sri Lanka come to mind.
This time the wicket had something for pacers, especially in the first hour over five days. It was in line with team management's vision but while Sri Lanka pace duo of Kasun Rajitha and Asitha Fernando reaped rewards, Bangladesh pace attack failed to keep that line of attack fit for Test. The field settings were often defensive, in line with keeping runs down to bad deliveries. But a skipper cannot attack and set a field for bad deliveries at the same time.
"If you look at the stats, the number of balls that got scored between square leg or mid-wicket and fine leg, I've never seen so many runs scored there in my career as a coach," said the Bangladesh head coach.
Domingo was at a loss to explain what went wrong with the batters. He argued in favour of changes, either in batting order or the line-up. But change must start from culture.
"If we knew the answer [to batting debacles], it probably wouldn't happen (sighs and smiles)," he said before adding that a batting order change or changes in the line-up will happen. Domingo and his side are left reflecting on bad phases in sessions that take the game away from them.
"We're getting close. First Test against Sri Lanka, they were six down and ended up drawing," he cited before listing a few close match scenarios. But Domingo knows full well that a cultural shift would be required for better results and that takes time to build.
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