Bangladesh Cricket

Two decades of delight and anguish in Test

Online Desk

26 Jun 20 18:39:56

Image : ICC

|| CF Correspondent ||

Bangladesh passed the tumultuous time on the course of its 20-year-long journey in Test cricket since its Test status achievement in June 26, 2000.

Just four months later of getting Test status, they played their debut Test against top-flight India in November 11 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS) in Dhaka.

After bursting into the most prestigious format of cricket Bangladesh had to struggle to clinch their first win. The Tigers played 119 Tests, where they won only 14 and drew 16 Checks while got defeated in 89 outings.

Bangladesh had to struggle with both bat and bowl throughout the entire first decade in Tests. There was hardly a match where the 10th Test-playing nation scored a solid 300-400 runs and bowling out the opponent in both innings in five-dayers.

Bangladesh had a close encounter against Pakistan in Multan in 2003 which almost ensured of tasting their first Test win but that was denied by a special hundred from Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq. The cool-headed batsman broke the hearts of the Bangladesh team and its numerous fans about losing the golden opportunity to defeat a top-notch side.

After that match, a few months later, Bangladesh managed to draw against West Indies at their own turf by the help of Habibul Bashar who scored a fine classy hundred to lead the Tigers. Because of the hardship, Bangladesh were facing in the early days, there were questions aroused whether Bangladesh deserve the Test status.

Later, in 2005, Tigers got their first Test match win against Zimbabwe at Chattogram where Mohammad Rafique’s all-round performance in the first innings [69(98) and 5 wickets] and Enamul Haque Jr’s second innings six-wicket burst collapsed the well-balanced Zimbabwe.

Bangladesh got their second Test win after waiting for four long years when the Tigers defeated the Caribbean side at their home ground and mark their first away win in 2009. It was Tamim Iqbal’s second innings calm and classy 128 from 243 bowls and Mahmudullah Riyad’s five-wicket haul sealed 95 runs win for Bangladesh.

It was also the first series where Bangladesh whitewashed a team at away ground [2-0]. It was the match where the Bangladesh team found their big guns of today’s Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza tgether.

After then Bangladesh again falls down as they got defeated by India and England at home, and New Zealand and England away from home followed.

The youngster then started to rise on to the occasion and made a storm in the shorter format of the game and named the team as one of the toughest opponents in the South Asian region but failed to do in the longer version of the game.

The Tigers had a long break from the five-dayer match between July 2010 to August 2011 which resulted in heavy losses against Zimbabwe, West Indies and Pakistan in a short period of time. Their confidence was badly dented and once again, their ability to play the red ball cricket was questioned.

And in 2013, playing against the Sri Lanka team at Galle, Bangladesh made history where the wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim scored his first double century in a Test match which also the first double knock by any Bangladeshi batsman in the longer version of cricket. Bangladesh drew that match.

The Tigers finest moment in their cricketing history came in 2016, when they defeat a full-strength England side at home. It was the first time they beat one of the top seven Test-playing nations. After then they were hosted by India for the only Test, which was their first-ever Test match in Indian turf.

Then Bangladesh marked their 100th Test match with a win against the Sri Lanka team at Colombo where Shakib and Tamim’s match-winning performance gave the Tigers a four-wicket win over the Lankan team.

Seeing the continuous success in ODI's and T20s Bangladesh Cricket Board [BCB] was more focused to bring and train up the players in the domestic circuit with the one-dayer match for the last five years. But the recent success over England and Australia encouraged BCB to slot their schedule with more Test matches.

That is why Tigers had a chance to establish their Test credentials in 2020 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those plans are now halted.

Due to the pandemic Bangladesh has so far missed out eight Test matches this year with the latest postponement of Sri Lanka Test series. The list of matches which has been shelved up are one away Test against Pakistan in April and a two-Test series against Australia in June followed by two Test matches against New Zealand along with the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

Missing multiple Tests against top nations could frustrate the players, especially those who were often only picked for Tests, but Test skipper Mominul Haque urged his teammates to not lose hope and to remain prepared to return to the field when the time comes.

However, Bangladesh Test skipper Mominul Haque urged his teammates to not to lose hope and be mentally strong and not to get frustrated about not getting to play the matches against the big teams, rather than be well prepared so that when the matches get to start, all of the players can perform well.

“As all these matches are part of ICC’s Test championship, I hope these matches will take place when things return to normalcy,” Mominul told leading English daily.

“It’s a bit frustrating for those cricketers who only play Tests; actually every cricketer is out of action now. So my advice will be, do not get frustrated by thinking too much about these things. Stay prepared, utilise this time so that when things resume everyone can give their 100 percent,” he said, adding that he is not denying that he is missing cricket a lot.

“Of course I miss the cricket, of course I feel bad. Like everyone else, I also had plans for this year, but we’ve hit a barrier. But we have to remember that this is not in our control, so there’s nothing we can do about it,” he said.

“We had targeted improvement in small steps. We’re watching the pace-bowling unit progress on their own after we had set them some goals. Players’ focus should remain intact, and we must keep reminding us of what are the aspects we had improved while we get back to action,” he added.

“As professional players, it’s in our blood to be at one with bat and ball, all the time. So it’s important to be mentally tuned to yourself during these days, when you’re locked up at home for two to three months. I think you can hold on to your fitness by working out for five or six days a week, but being mentally strong is the most important thing,” the left-hander added.

“Also one must remember that although we’re getting unscheduled rest, next year we might not get any breather due to the volume of cricket. So it’s best to use this time for one’s benefit,” he concluded.