Morally-shattered Tigers go into defensive mood
Pic: Bcb
CF Correspondent
Bangladesh paid the price of thinking out of the box as Sri Lankan batsmen dominated against them in the third ODI’s in the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Wednesday.
Despite being put under pressure on two occasions the host managed to pull through that eventually helped them to post a decent total on the board.
But whether playing with four bowlers and three wicket keepers is a largely responsible for the outcome of it is a matter of debate nonetheless.
Bangladesh lost the series as Sri Lanka defeated them in the opening two games and Tigers needed a win just to end their disappointing tour on a perfect note.
However their action never validate they had any such thing as they were always short of options that would have helped them to put their opposition on the back-foot.
While Shafiul helped them earn an early break through the host quickly recovered as Karunaratne and Kusal Perera opted to slowly rebuild their innings instead of going after the bowlers who looked quite good initially.
They could take the luxury of seeing of the storm much like the way Kusal Mendis and Angello Mathews did after they joined after the tourist warned of a comeback by picking two wickets in quick succession.
The fact Bangladesh decided to play with four bowlers clearly indicates the mindset of the team management that suggested they never had the confidence that their bowling unit have the strength to challenge their opponent.
Rather more precisely it’s a defensive approach that only indicates the mental state of the dressing room.
Bangladesh came to Sri Lanka with an eye to regain their confidence but they way they lost the opening two games surely had an impact on their morale and it prompted them to take a defensive approach all together.
Bangladesh opted to make two changes in their line-up as they brought in Anamul Haque and Rubel Hossain in place of Mossadek Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman.
While Rubel Hossain inclusion can be considered logical as he is replacing Mustafizur Rahman, as he got niggle during the warm-up, the exclusion of Mossadek clearly gives a wrong message.
In the recent past Mossadek was touted to be the major contender to take the number seven spot and in the recent past was bowling quite well compared he is considered to be a part-timer.
But his exclusion surely have an impact on the overall balance of the team as Mahmudullah bowled for three overs for the first time since picking up the shoulder injury that to in a side arm action and looked hardly effective.
Soumya bowled nine overs but whether it was an intentional move or the situation forced them to do so is yet not clear.
Sri Lanka had a perfect blast in the end as they scored 86 off the last seven overs that eventually helped them post a huge total batting first considering the surface wasn't the easiest to bat on.
It did demand attritional cricket during the middle overs and thanks to the pair of Mathews and Kusal Mendis, who engineered a 101-run stand for the fourth wicket to dig their team out of trouble after the fall of their top three inside the first half of the innings.
Things could have been different if Tigers opted to have a different strategy like when Taijul Islam was bowling well from one end but as there was no partnership in place it hardly proved dividend as the host always had their wicket in hand to play shots across the park in the last phase of their game.
As a result Bangladesh seemed to have control over the scoring rate till the 40th over, but Dasun Shanaka's blitz followed by Shehan and Wanidu's finishing touches undid all the hard work until that point and that left a huge burden on the shoulder of their as the chase should be an interesting one.
Bangladesh selection dilemma is nothing new and whether Farhad Reza could have been a better prospect than Anamul is a thing that can be debated considering if a team does not win with seven batsmen there is no point playing the game and surely it reflects the mindset that the team management is carrying about their batting unit as well.
The absence of Shakib al Hasan surely had an huge impact as the team had to make certain changes to bring the balance but Tigers probably never felt the vacuum so badly as they did in the island.
