Dear Bangladesh batsmen, it’s a Test match and not T20

Yet another dismal show by the Bangladesh batsmen!

Liton Kumar Das started off confidently! A sweetly-timed stroke through the offside off a Shannon Gabriel pacey delivery hinted about his attacking mood and it did not stop just here, but Keemo Paul was dispatched for a boundary through the extra-cover via a glorious drive. Confidence has been boosted and the strike reached the status of Twenty20. The Tigers went for a power lunch with a great satisfaction. The Bangladesh bowlers roared back in the first session to bag the rest of wickets of West Indies and gave the visitors a hope to shrug-off the dismal show at Antigua.

In the second session, Bangladesh batsmen were needed to curb their Twenty20 instincts more and focus on spending time at the crease and leaving the ball as much as possible.      

In the post-lunch session, Keemo Paul was bowling full and outside off against Liton. Liton left one delivery and that was the ideal way to go, but he seemed eager to play his shots as if he was playing the Nidahas Trophy Final where the asking run rate would escalate if he leaves a delivery. But this was Jamaica, where a Test match is going on and requires more application.

Liton fetched three runs with an uppish drive – the fragility started to show its ugly face. In over number 7 of Bangladesh innings, Gabriel started off to hunt. He knew Liton was restless and would commit a mistake anytime. He angled in a ball from short of a length, which should have been defended rather than attempting to play on the onside. The next ball was similar, but Liton was trapped plumb in front!

Yet again, Liton tried to flick the ball, which should have been blocked. The failure to curb the attacking intent scripted his downfall and the same sort of intent was evident among the experienced campaigners of Bangladesh as well.

Mominul Haque, who was portrayed as the victim of Chandika Hathurusingha’s conspiracy theory by Bangladesh media and later on helped by a so-called local coach named Salahuddin, walked towards the dressing room by attempting to close the face against the angle of Gabriel – almost the carbon copy of first Test dismissal. Now, there is no Hthursingha round, but Salahuddin, who perhaps did not teach Mominul to learn from his mistakes, which Chandika did.

What would the so-called sports reporters and fanboys of Bangladesh say now?

Two down and Bangladesh needed their senior batsmen to rise to the occasion. Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal stitched a 59-run partnership, but it lacked the ideal nature of a Test match – more boundaries flowed rather than strike-rotation. The West Indian captain Jason Holder persisted with his usual line-and-length as he knew Shakib would commit a mistake.

In the first ball of over number 24, Shakib executed a loose-shot against the run of play, and regarding the captain of the side, it’s tough to admit “Shakib plays this way”. Just in the previous over, he cut a similar length, but this time around, he misjudged the line! The wise men say, don’t repeat the same thing every time, it might invite trouble.

Two balls later, a shaky Mahmudullah Riyad shuffled across the crease and was trapped lbw. It was yet another display of bad technique against a pace bowler.

Tamim and Mushfiqur Rahim arrested a collapse, but Tamim - who showed the intent to occupy the crease - was undone by yet another angled delivery by Paul while Mushfiq was in the mood of Nidahas Trophy – his 24 runs included five boundaries and a lesser amount of strike-rotation. And in the end, his lifeline at the crease was cut short by Holder – a lazy attempt to jab against a short of a length ball, which flew towards gully!

A resistance was expected from the highly rated Nurul Hasan, but the guy only knows how to play blazing strokes in the Bangladesh Premier League, but this is a Test match where on-field antics or blazing strokes have no value. Hasan digested a golden duck and Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s stay lasted for twelve balls.

Bangladesh failed to reach 150. Well, this could have been a very good total in a Twenty20 match, but sadly the Tigers are playing in a five-day match, where such scores cannot fetch anything better.   

Note: This article has been published at Cricketsoccer on 14/07/2018 Dear Bangladesh batsmen, it’s a Test match and not T20

Thank You

Faisal Caesar