What a chance Bangladesh had to win the Test! Rahul Dravid’s declaration was more than a generous one, and it threw down the gauntlet at Bangladesh and challenged them to show that all the hoopla about them having made so much progress was fact and not just hype. Alas! What Bangladesh’s approach and attitude showed was that one swallow indeed does not make a summer. In any case, one-day performances are seldom the indicator of a team’s progress for any team can have a bad day, and it’s only when a team starts beating others regularly that one can say that the team has arrived. India’s wins in the two one-dayers showed that what happened in the World Cup was one of those bad days for a better team and Bangladesh’s reluctance to even attempt to go for the target in Chittagong is a fair sign that there is much, much more to be done in the ‘temperament’ department for them to be feared as a Test team. Opportunities to put it across to better Test teams don’t come like this and Bangladesh’s timid mindset has let them down once again.
Just like the missed opportunity against World Champions Australia last year, this time too, the blame has to be put fairly and squarely on the skipper Habibul Bashar, though its fair to say he is not the strongest of captains like say Ricky Ponting is or Sourav Ganguly was, and so relies much on the advice he gets in the dressing room. Fortunately for Bangladesh, that advice will not be there from the next series, and if the Bangla selectors show gumption and foresight, they will also relieve Bashar of the captaincy and utilise his experience as a batsman. Bashar has not been in the best of batting form, but who knows, relieved of the pressure of captaincy, he may find his touch again and help bolster the Bangladeshi batting. There was no way Bangladesh could have been dismissed in the 43 overs that were available to them. It was a placid pitch for the new-ball bowlers, and with Kumble also not around, there was really no danger of Bangladesh losing all 10 wickets. What was important was for Bangladesh to make a statement by looking to go for the target. They could have changed the batting order and given strokeplayers like Mohammed Ashraful the freedom to go and play his natural game. They could have sent the big-hitter Mashrafe Mortaza, who had batted so well in the first innings, to try some big shots and if they had lost these two big-hitters, they still had enough batting to save the Test, and with the light fading, they could have wasted enough time to deny India a win if it came to that. There simply wasn’t any tactical nous displayed, and while it is no secret that Bashar is not the greatest tactical captain, what was the dressing room doing? This was a chance to score a psychological win over big brother India and give them something to think about by going after the target. It was a wonderful chance to earn, nay demand, respect by chasing the target. By showing neither the inclination nor the intention to even make a token attempt, Bangladesh may have got a draw, but they lost out on the chance to show the world that they have arrived as a Test nation. But maybe one is being too harsh on them. Maybe for a team that keeps losing Test matches regularly unless it’s against Zimbabwe, a draw is more like a win.
Yes, maybe we are being harsh, because like everybody, we believe the hype that they have made progress.
