Of squandered chances and patient triumphs: Bangladesh’s woes and Sri Lanka’s quiet reawakening

Test cricket, perhaps more than any other sport, is a stern tutor. It exposes impatience, magnifies errors, and punishes lapses in discipline with an almost cruel precision. The second Test in Colombo was such a lesson — a canvas on which Bangladesh’s enduring struggles were painted in anxious strokes, even as Sri Lanka quietly sketched out their own reassuring tale of resurgence.

Bangladesh: promise betrayed by impatience and frailty

For Bangladesh, the match began with hope. Winning the toss on a track at the SSC that traditionally flatters batters, they aspired to set the game’s tone. Instead, their innings was a tragic anthology of starts squandered. Six of their batters crossed 20, yet none reached 50. Each seemed to settle just long enough to hint at permanence, only to perish to a reckless stroke or a lapse in judgment. It was not so much that the pitch was hostile — it was that Bangladesh conspired against themselves.

It’s telling that their most substantial partnership, between Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das, came with two reprieves handed on a silver platter by Sri Lanka’s fielders. Even then, it was a transient resistance. Bangladesh’s innings was stitched together by the generosity of dropped catches, edges falling tantalisingly short, and missed run-out chances. Yet they could only crawl to 220 for 8 by the close on day one. It felt like a team forever one moment away from collapse — a psychological fragility every bit as costly as technical flaws.

Worse still, Bangladesh compounded these batting frailties with wayward bowling. Aside from Taijul Islam, who turned in a lionhearted five-for, their bowlers too often erred in line or length. When they did build pressure, they failed to sustain it, leaking boundaries that undid spells of good work. In total, they were a side wrestling with their own inconsistency — a problem more chronic than situational.

Sri Lanka: a quiet revolution in temperament

For Sri Lanka, meanwhile, this Test was a portrait of deliberate, almost old-fashioned Test match cricket — a demonstration that control over time remains the game’s most formidable weapon.

Their resurgence is not the stuff of dramatic flair. It is the quiet evolution of a side learning once more how to be methodical. With the ball, they were patient. Despite five dropped catches and missed chances that might have rattled a less disciplined unit, they stuck doggedly to probing lines, trusting that a mistake would eventually arrive. Asitha Fernando and Vishwa Fernando kept hammering the corridor outside off, while debutant Sonal Dinusha bowled with a composure that belied his inexperience. Even Prabath Jayasuriya, wicketless in the first innings, persisted until the surface rewarded him spectacularly in the second.

Their batting was an even richer story. Pathum Nissanka played an innings that was both a masterclass and a metaphor: 158 runs crafted with an unhurried grace that Bangladesh could not emulate. His shot selection was underwritten by a deep assurance; his ability to shift gears — from cautious to imperious — showcased a temperament honed for the long form. Where Bangladesh’s batters seemed forever tempted by risk, Nissanka exuded a calm certainty that allowed the game to bend to his rhythm.

When Bangladesh did apply themselves — as Taijul did with the ball, or briefly when Shadman Islam flirted with a second successive fifty — it only underscored how costly the collective lapses were. They were moments of resistance drowned out by a tide of their own making.

A match decided in moments — and mindsets

In the end, the statistical verdict — an innings-and-78-run victory for Sri Lanka — tells only half the story. The deeper narrative is one of contrasts: Bangladesh’s inability to turn promise into permanence, Sri Lanka’s refusal to panic when catches went down or the scoreboard slowed.

It is also a testament to the timeless truths of Test cricket: that even on a surface with runs to be made, discipline is king; that pressure is not always built by wickets alone but by denying easy runs, by choking off release. Sri Lanka bowled 30 maidens across Bangladesh’s first innings alone, each one a subtle squeeze on the psyche.

Bangladesh, by contrast, often bowled too short or too full, too anxious to force the game rather than let it evolve. Their batting too betrayed this urgency — attacking when they should have consolidated, defending without intent when they needed to score.

Two teams, two journeys

In a way, this match was the crossroads of two trajectories. Sri Lanka are a team quietly rebuilding an identity around patience and process. The likes of Nissanka and Jayasuriya are symbols of this — players who understand that Test victories are accumulated through small moments won again and again across sessions.

Bangladesh remain tantalisingly close yet frustratingly far. They possess the talent: Shanto, Mushfiqur, Litton, Taijul — all capable on their day. But Tests are not won on scattered days. They are won by sustaining standards across days, across innings, across fleeting moments when the game teeters and demands calm. Bangladesh, by dropping catches, playing rash strokes, and squandering bowling pressure, allowed each of those moments to slip away.

The enduring lesson

As Colombo’s sun set on a fourth-day finish, it left behind more than just numbers on a scoresheet. It offered a lesson as old as the format itself: that in Test cricket, unlike any other, impatience extracts a heavy price, while those who are willing to endure, to trust the process over impulse, find themselves rewarded not just with victory but with a growing aura of reliability.

Sri Lanka walk away from this series heartened by the shape their resurgence is taking — a methodical, disciplined, quietly confident side that seems ready to embrace harder challenges ahead. Bangladesh leave with familiar regrets and, hopefully, the resolve to address them. For in the end, cricket rarely forgives repetition of old mistakes. It merely waits to punish them again.

Thank You 

Faisal Caesar 

Angelo Mathews: A Farewell to a Cricketer Who Did Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

 A Walk Into History at Galle

On June 21, 2025, under overcast skies and amidst the salty breeze of the Galle Fort, one of Sri Lanka’s last cricketing titans walked off the Test stage for the final time. Angelo Davis Mathews—battered, bruised, and brilliant across 16 years—played his final innings in whites, scoring just 8 off 45 balls. There was no fairy-tale finish. But the emotion was no less overwhelming.

As he departed, a giant cobra-shaped kite soared above the Galle International Stadium—a poetic tribute during kite-flying season. On it, written simply, was his name. "Angelo." No surname needed. Everyone knew who it was for.

Mathews had announced before the match that this would be his last dance in the Test arena. It brought to an end a journey that saw him rise from a precocious all-rounder to a stoic leader and, eventually, a symbol of endurance in a cricketing landscape that often felt uncertain and unstable.

The Making of a Modern Marvel

Mathews’ introduction to the Test arena came in 2009, during a turbulent period of rebuilding. The old guard—Jayawardene, Sangakkara, and Dilshan—was still standing tall, but cracks were appearing. Into this mix walked Mathews, offering something rare: a fast-bowling allrounder, capable of bowling tidy seamers and batting with equal parts flair and grit.

Sri Lanka had never quite produced such a player. His early years were spent learning to adapt to roles as diverse as lower-order rescuer, enforcer, and steady accumulator. By the time he was 25, he was handed the Test and ODI captaincies—an appointment met with scepticism by some but trust by those who saw his growing maturity.

He didn’t disappoint.

2014: An Absolute Purple Patch

Every cricketer has a defining year. For Mathews, it was 2014. It began quietly, with a drawn Test against Pakistan that overlapped the last day of 2013 and spilt into the first week of the new year. But that calm would soon erupt into one of the most remarkable 12-month stretches a Sri Lankan cricketer has ever had.

The Stats:

1160 Test runs at an average of 77.33

Asia Cup title: as captain, delivering match-turning spells and cool-headed finishes.

T20 World Cup win: with Mathews playing a crucial all-round role.

Historic series win in England: anchored by his epic 160 at Headingley.

At Headingley, his innings—under pressure and following a modest first-innings lead—turned the tide. When wickets were falling at the other end, Mathews remained unmoved. He built a 149-run stand with Rangana Herath, pushing Sri Lanka to a 350-run lead, which Prasad and Herath converted into a stunning victory.

This wasn’t just a victory on the scorecard. It was symbolic. It proved that Sri Lanka, even in the post-Jayawardene-Sanga era, could still punch above its weight overseas.

Captain Courageous

Mathews’ captaincy record, at first glance, doesn’t scream greatness. But deeper reflection reveals the scope of his challenge. He captained during the nation’s post-golden generation, a time of financial uncertainty at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), constant coaching changes, player revolts, and political interference.

Despite these headwinds, Mathews held the team together. He wasn’t a flashy tactician, but he was instinctive, and more importantly, respected. His leadership reached a crescendo during the 3-0 home whitewash of Australia in 2016, where Sri Lanka’s spinners decimated the opposition and Mathews, as always, contributed across departments.

He may not have screamed or punched the air with every wicket, but his calm, analytical nature gave Sri Lanka breathing room in chaos.

Iconic Performances: A Career in Snapshots

157not out vs Pakistan, Abu Dhabi (2014)

With Sri Lanka trailing by nearly 180, Mathews fought a lone battle, soaking up 343 balls to force a draw—proof of his growing discipline and maturity.

160 vs England, Headingley (2014)

The innings that defined his leadership. With the series on the line, Mathews led from the front and scripted Sri Lanka’s first Test series win in England.

120 not out  vs New Zealand, Wellington (2018)

A statement after being dropped from ODIs over fitness concerns. Along with Kusal Mendis, Mathews batted an entire day and forced a draw through sheer will.

99 vs India (2009) & 199 vs Bangladesh (2022)

The only batter in Test history dismissed on both scores. A cruel symmetry that mirrors a career of near-misses, but also moments of magic.

A Hallmark of Consistency

- 8167 Test runs, 119 matches, 16 centuries, 36 fifties

- Third-highest Test run-getter in Sri Lankan history (after Sangakkara and Jayawardene)

- Scored more than 4000 runs at home, and over 3500 runs abroad—a rare balance in the subcontinent

- Averaged 50+ against Bangladesh, New Zealand, and Pakistan

-  All four Player-of-the-Series awards came away from home

Mathews was Sri Lanka’s most prolific No. 5 and 6 batter between 2013–15, scoring over 2200 runs at an average nearing 58. He was the finisher, the firefighter, and the fulcrum around whom matches spun.

 The Allrounder Who Evolved Beyond Role

As his body gave in and the bowling slowly vanished from his arsenal, Mathews reinvented himself. He became a crisis manager with the bat. Where he once hit sixes to finish games, he began blocking for hours to save them. His unbeaten 120 in Delhi and the push-up celebration after his hundred in Wellington stand as late-career monuments to grit, pride, and understated rebellion.

Angelo Mathews didn’t always get the attention he deserved. He wasn’t always on magazine covers or celebrated like a rockstar. But in dressing rooms across the world, and among teammates from Lasith Malinga to Dhananjaya de Silva, his value was priceless.

A Farewell to the Unshakeable

Mathews ends his Test career not as a firework but a lighthouse—steady, unfazed, illuminating a path forward for a new generation of Sri Lankan cricketers. In a cricketing era increasingly obsessed with instant gratification and flashy strokes, Mathews leaves behind a legacy defined by durability, maturity, and an iron will.

"It wasn't an easy journey – lots of ups and downs," he reflected."But it’s time for the younger players to take the baton and take Sri Lanka forward."

For a man who never made it about himself, that might be the most fitting epitaph of all.

Farewell, Angelo Mathews. You gave it everything. You made it count.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Mushfiqur Rahim: The Relentless Constant in Bangladesh’s Cricketing Story

Coming in with Bangladesh in trouble is nothing new for Mushfiqur Rahim. It’s a role he’s embraced since he was a teenager in 2005 — his boyish face and disarming smile belying the grit beneath, the grit of a cricketer who has spent two decades cushioning the tremors of Bangladesh’s batting collapses like a sponge soaking pressure.

That pressure became familiar long before it became routine.

Rahim arrived at a time of strategic upheaval in Bangladesh cricket. In 2005, the selectors — led by a visionary think tank comprising Dav Whatmore, Steve McInnes, and Arafat Rahman — made an audacious call to build for the future. Out went the old guard, despite the criticism of so-called "paid experts"; in came a clutch of raw, untested youth, among whom Mushfiqur was the cornerstone.

That decision would, with time, prove inspired.

A Productive Partnership 

Fast forward to Galle in 2025. Najmul Hossain Shanto had just faced three deliveries when Mushfiqur walked in at 45 for 3 — a precarious yet familiar scenario. On his sixth ball, Shanto danced down the track and lofted one over the bowler’s head, signalling intent. It wasn’t reckless aggression, but a calm defiance. It was as though the innings had inhaled new air.

Despite a pitch that looked flatter than usual on Day 1, Bangladesh resisted the urge to accelerate. Galle demands respect, not bravado. Bat first, bat long. That has long been the script.

Sri Lanka, buoyed by Angelo Mathews’ farewell and Tharindu Rathnayake’s dream debut (including a double-strike in consecutive overs), might have imagined a different story unfolding. But they hadn’t accounted for Mushfiqur and Shanto’s poise.

The pair weathered the storm, punished loose deliveries, and ran with urgency. By lunch on Day 2, Bangladesh had crossed 400. The duo's partnership had swelled to 247 runs — both unbeaten, Shanto on 136, Mushfiqur on 105.

It was Mushfiqur’s 12th Test century, ending a 14-innings drought. And yet, this was no free ride. Dhananjaya de Silva rotated the field shrewdly. Sri Lanka’s bowlers probed, particularly targeting Mushfiqur’s patience. He survived 23 balls in the nineties before nudging into three figures in the 86th over.

For Shanto, it was a return to rhythm — his first Test ton since November 2023. For Mushfiqur, it was a full-circle moment in Galle, where 12 years ago he etched his name in Bangladesh’s history books with the team’s first Test double-century.

A Career of Two Halves

Rahim’s career has been, in many ways, a study in duality.

He debuted before MS Dhoni, Kevin Pietersen, Michael Hussey, and Alastair Cook. Nearly two decades later, he remains the last man standing from the Class of 2005 in active Test cricket. And yet, he has rarely been named in conversations about the greats of the modern era. That is both a disservice and an inevitability.

The first half of his career was marked by promise without potency — 12 Tests in, he averaged under 20. His first Test hundred came in 2010 against India. The next arrived three years later. By the end of 2015, Rahim’s average had clawed its way to 32.31 — decent, but not dazzling.

And then came the pivot.

2017 marked a seismic shift. In Wellington, alongside Shakib Al Hasan, Rahim stitched together a record-breaking 359-run partnership against a formidable New Zealand attack. His 159 — the highest by an Asian wicketkeeper in a SENA country — heralded a new chapter. From that point on, Rahim transformed into one of the most consistent Test performers of his generation.

Since that Wellington innings, he has amassed 3,410 runs in 47 Tests at an average of 44.86. Only four players globally have scored more at a higher average during this span. Rahim’s numbers have outstripped Virat Kohli (44.43), Usman Khawaja (44.35), and Babar Azam (43.82) in that period — a stunning metric for a man often left out of elite lists.

And yet, perception lags behind reality.

Limited by Circumstance, Not by Skill

Rahim’s ascent has been constrained by the asymmetries of Test cricket. He has played only 14 Tests in SENA countries, averaging 21.92. Six of those came after 2017 — two in New Zealand, where he averaged 94.50, and four in South Africa, where he struggled at 19. No Tests in England or Australia since 2016. Even in Bangladesh, SENA opposition has been sporadic.

That uneven exposure has distorted the perception of Rahim’s quality. The weight given to performances in SENA countries remains the litmus test for batting greatness. And Rahim has had neither the platform nor the privileges to make that case fully.

What he has done is maximize every controllable within his grasp.

Since 2017, his home and away averages are strikingly consistent: 43.93 and 46.15. His centuries span the globe — from Galle to Rawalpindi, Hyderabad to Wellington. At home, he has flourished: three unbeaten scores over 175, including two double centuries. Since 2020, his Test average of 46.42 eclipses Steve Smith’s 46.17 — a quiet, almost ironic, footnote in cricket's statistical archives.

A Legacy Cast in Grit, Not Glamour

Rahim has always been a cricketer's cricketer. Understated. Uncelebrated. Yet unmistakably elite. His skill against spin is matched by few. His glove work may have often taken a back seat to his batting, but it was never unworthy. In hindsight, had he relinquished the gloves earlier, he might have soared higher with the bat. But Rahim chose devotion over convenience.

He has been criticized for wearing his heart on his sleeve — sometimes too tightly. The emotional strain of carrying Bangladesh’s middle order and the added burden of wicketkeeping may have exacted a toll. But that emotional core also fuelled his longevity, his resilience, and his quiet dominance.

Mushfiqur Rahim will perhaps never be counted among the pantheon of global greats. But within the context of Bangladesh cricket — and indeed, the global narrative of undervalued brilliance — he stands tall.

Not every great player makes headlines. Some, like Rahim, make history — quietly, persistently, and with unwavering grace.

Thank You 

Faisal Caesar