Long and arduous road ahead for Bangladesh
Before Bangladesh, seven of the nine nations playing their first Test had lost the matches
Partab Ramchand
14-Nov-2000
Before Bangladesh, seven of the nine nations playing their first Test
had lost the matches. In fact, West Indies and Pakistan were beaten by
an innings while others had lost by margins that ranged from 45 runs
to 158 runs, from seven wickets to eight wickets. Against this
background, Bangladesh's defeat by nine wickets with a day to spare
may be termed as an expected result.
Certainly on the eve of the game, the inaugural Test at Dhaka seemed
to have all the makings of a mismatch. India's rating in world cricket
at the moment is nothing to boast about. At best they would be at the
top of the second half of the ten nations. Still it was accepted -
even by Bangladesh - that they would be too strong for the debutant
nation. There were too many factors against the home team doing well.
There is not a very strong basic structure for first class cricket in
the country. This has led to Bangladesh faring badly in the longer
version of the game. They had not won any of the ten first class games
they had played till the Test commenced and these matches were played
over three or four days. They had never had a taste of five day
cricket. The national team had just come back from a particularly
disastrous tour of South Africa. Even in one day cricket, where
Bangladesh by its own standards has a barely presentable record, the
team had fared miserably against provincial sides. Certainly they were
the most unprepared entrants to the Test arena.
There had been widespread criticism the world over against the
granting of Test status to Bangladesh. Former South African batting
great Barry Richards made a valid point in an interview during the
Coca Cola Champions Trophy in Sharjah last month. Expressing his
concern over the standard of some of the countries playing
international cricket, Richards said, ''there is a huge disparity
between the top teams and a few others. Just because you want to
globalise cricket, one should not devalue the standard of the game. We
should not let any country play Test cricket just to globalise the
game. It will devalue the history of cricket. A particular standard
should be maintained otherwise spectators and television will lose
interest. Who will want to watch an ATP tournament final between a
player ranked 495 against one ranked 520?''
Richards' message was clearly directed mainly at Bangladesh being
elevated to Test status. And yesterday in an interview in Perth, where
he now lives, Richards was more direct. Hinting that Test cricket
might have to adopt a two tiered competition, Richards said his real
worry in world terms was that Australia, South Africa and Pakistan
would continue to broaden the gulf that exists between themselves and
the remaining seven Test nations. ''You just wonder what's going to
happen with Test cricket. Australia, South Africa and perhaps Pakistan
are the quality sides. Of the others, Zimbabwe can't go anywhere,
Bangladesh is an ordinary side, India blows hot and cold - it's like
there are two tiers in Test cricket.'' He made these comments after
watching the West Indies, once the undisputed champions in world
cricket, humiliated by Western Australia in a tour match.
Richards has a valid point. Certainly there was a lot of ordinary
cricket that one witnessed during the past four days in Dhaka. But
then what can one expect from a contest pitting a No 7 team in the
world against the No 10 and debutant nation, a point also driven home
by Richards.
Considering the pre-Test scenario, the result at Dhaka was anything
but a surprise. But what the average Bangladesh cricket fan, the team
members and others who witnessed the Test have found it difficult to
accept is how the side collapsed unaccountably on the fourth afternoon
after having held their own against a fancied side till lunch on the
same day. One remembers another inaugural Test - involving Sri Lanka
in Colombo in 1982 - when the script was rather similar. Over the
first innings, the home team held their own, scoring 218 and
restricting England to 223. But a second innings collapse by Sri Lanka
saw England romping home by seven wickets.
Lack of experience, temperament, technique, dedication, determination
and concentration were the reasons cited by Naimur Rahman in his post
match press conference. ''We played loose shots and the tendency to go
for strokes caused our downfall. We needed to adopt defensive tactics.
Also we did not apply ourselves as we did in the first innings. We are
not habituated to playing so long and this was the main problem. Also
a few might have been over confident after the big total we put up in
the first innings. We have to learn the importance of temperament and
concentration. We have to work on our faults,'' admitted the
Bangladesh captain. Coach Sarwar Imran, while touching upon the aspect
of poor shot selection added ''those who learn from this match will
stay and those who do not learn will not play Test cricket for long.''
Indeed, the learning process for Bangladesh has just commenced. ''We
are the next generation,'' said a banner put up by a fervent
Bangladesh cricket supporter at the ground. Perhaps, but before that
it is a long, arduous and bumpy road ahead for Bangladesh. Whether
they deserve Test status or not, the fact is that they have been
elevated. Now they have to rise to the occasion and with several
systematic programmes raise the level of the game. The Bangladesh
Cricket Board showed during the Test that they are capable organisers.
Now they should turn their attention to their cricketers and chart out
long term schemes for them so that the national team will be able to
hold its own in the rough and tumble world of Test cricket.