Zimbabwe v Bangladesh - The Tigers simply don't feel defeated

I didn't say earlier that Zimbabwe might surprise our team and certainly they did leave the Tigers stunned. 

The condition of Zimbabwe’s cricket had been shoddy. Political interventions had destabilized the country’s cricket and gradually it had lost all the glories which they earned through spirited performances till 2003. Due to the poor conditions of their cricket, in 2005, Zimbabwe took a leave from Test cricket to recharge their cricket. Gradually, they started to develop themselves as a Test team and certainly, they have returned with a bang!

Bangladesh were the opponents of Zimbabwe for the one-off Test match. The Tigers were in a much better shape than Zimbabwe and they were the favorites against the hosts. The Test against Zimbabwe was not supposed to be a stiffer challenge as because over the years, Bangladesh as a team have done well and quite a few successes had made this team a confident unit.

The Harare track was almost like the subcontinetal tracks and it suited more the visitors than hosts. But astonishingly, the Tigers have gifted heartaches. 

Bangladesh simply didn't play like a unit. They played without any plans. The Bangladeshi pace bowlers were wayward while the spinners lacked the bite to test the Zimbabwean batters. Shakib as a captain looked extremely down. I was not impressed with Shakib’s field setting as he allowed too easy many singles which helped the Zimbabweans to settle down. Shakib is a very attacking captain and a good thinker of the game, but surprisingly, it seemed that he was not enjoying out there in the middle. 

But the most horrendous show was put up by our batsmen. Their manner of dismissals had simply left me ashamed. Eleven years have passed and still our batsmen haven’t learned how to bat in test cricket. No nag to spend time at the crease, but more interested in slash-hard type batting which can never be the right option in test cricket.

In my opinion, our preparation for the Zimbabwe Test match had flaws. First of all we took the series lightly. Secondly, our star performers should have played longer version games more rather than cashing on T20 cricket. The bad effect of T20 cricket was evident among our batsmen.

Our cricketers simply don’t feel defeated by such defeats. They never learn from such defeats. This one-off Test match should not have been lost against a side who were much lesser experienced than us. But, the Zimbabweans have won the match only because of our lackluster approach.

In any form of the game there is no place of a lackluster attitude and in Test cricket the focus must always be superb. But sadly, our team remains Test cricket’s poorest students.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar