It’s a five-day game. It’s the test of a team’s stamina and
concentration. It’s the examination of a team’s technique and temperament, both
of which can be tested in different ways and multiple times in a day. This is
the format where the greatest cricketers are born and mediocrity gets
vanquished once and for all.
After Zimbabwe, Bangladesh were awarded the Test status
sixteen years ago. While Zimbabwe failed to live up to the expectations in the
best format of the game due to their internal problems, Bangladesh’s journey
has not been encouraging as well. More often than not, their performance in the
longest format has been the subject of harsh criticism. But still, they are
surviving in the topsy-turvy world of Test cricket and are all set to face one
of the best teams in the world on October 20 at Chittagong.
Without a doubt, England are the favorites in this two-match
Test series and as a team, they are way better than the hosts. Still, there is
a lot of interest regarding this Test series, among the cricket followers and
the reason is, Bangladesh’s outstanding performance for the last one and half
years in limited-overs cricket.
Since the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the
Tigers’ performance in the limited-overs format has become a subject of
interest for everyone. So far, their recent prosperity is a role model for the
emerging cricketing nations and on cricketing talk shows, the example of
Bangladesh is highlighted with a greater importance.
But sadly, the success in the 50-over format or Twenty20 is
not enough to prove a point in Test cricket.
As soon as the colours of the clothes change , Bangladesh
lose the services of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain and a
few others and thus, find the going tough.
Strong
batting, weak bowling
They
did realize the value of having a potent bowler in Test cricket when Mustafizur
Rahman triggered a collapse at Chittagong last year against South Africa. All
of a sudden, Bangladesh found themselves in the driver’s seat. But at the
moment, they will be without the services of Mustafizur against England due to
an injury.
The
Tigers have announced a 14-man Test squad for the first Test against England.
As soon as you read the names from the start, you feel it’s a good team as the
names of Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib, and co . jump out at
you, but you tend to lose hope after reading the names in the latter part of
the squad.
The
bowling attack of Bangladesh is not as competent as the batting line up and it
is the weakest link of the Bangladesh Test squad.
Defensive
mindset
Bangladesh
are expected to pack the team with eight batters and three frontline bowlers
and the plan is to survive rather than show positive intent. But when you play
to survive, you cannot learn how to win and possibilities of a defeat always
loom large.
When
a team continues to build their plans relying too much on defensive strategies,
automatically it halts their progress in 5-day matches and this is why
Bangladesh’s performances have not been satisfactory in Test cricket.
And
it seems that the Bangladeshi think tank are quite satisfied with this sort of
defensive approach. They don’t mind surfacing a team with just three bowlers
and let one Shakib carry on the burden tirelessly day after day. They
completely forget, the greatest and the most dominant teams in Test cricket
have been built on penetrative, versatile bowling units.
Yes,
it’s a batsman’s world, but what is the value of those high scores if they
don’t receive the support of an efficient bowling attack?
ODI
brilliance could hinder development in Tests
Bangladesh’s
brilliant form in the limited-overs format, at times, proves to be a big hurdle
in developing quality Test match cricketers, especially bowlers. Role models
like Taskin or Rubel do not play Test matches but utilize their guile more in a
one-day or Twenty20 match and youngsters watching the game decide to follow in
their footsteps. The situation gets worse when a group of so-called local
intellectuals endorses their thoughts.
The
English batting line-up is very strong and they are a highly professional unit.
They love to make bowlers sweat and are the masters at putting a price tag on
their wicket. The Bangladeshi bowling attack lacks the cutting edge to test the
English batting line-up and it will not acquire the same until and unless the
Bangladeshi think tank gives Test cricket greater importance and shun their
defensive mindset.
The
idea of depending too much on the batsmen might backfire for Bangladesh. As
Virat Kohli once said, “I certainly believe that a bowler wins you a Test
match. Batsmen can hardly get you a Test match from a difficult situation if
you are chasing. More often than not, it’s the bowlers who eventually out you
in that position when you have to chase a small total. So a bowlers’ role is
more important than batsmen in Test matches.”
Note:
This article has been published at Sportskeeda on 19/10/2016 Why Bangladesh might struggle against England in the Test series
Thank
You
Faisal
Caesar
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