Bangladesh’s 335-run defeat against hosts Zimbabwe in the first Test at Harare Sports Club has left the players, the board and the nation in shock. The kind of cricket that Bangladesh played in the last two years or so has raised the expectation level and such a poor performance against a weak opponent was never expected.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board strongly criticised the Bangladesh team for the batting debacle. In a prompt reaction the board asked the injured members of the team to return to Dhaka. This has been the first public airing of frustration by the board regarding fitness issues that have affected the players since this season's Bangladesh Premier League.
Not using three seamers has been considered as a mistake, however intentions to rectify that error in judgement in the second and last game of the series, which apparently is a do or die for the visitors, was clear with the inclusion of pacer Shafiul Islam in the squad and who is expected to reach Harare before the game that starts on April 25.
The Bangladesh cricketers themselves are not going through a good time after the game where they failed to cross 150 runs in both innings.
‘We will be back’ was the simple and only message by the Bangladesh national team coach Shane Jurgensen during practise yesterday. This probably is the only thing the visitors have to say for the moment.
Bangladesh’s last tour of Zimbabwe in 2011 was also a disaster, albeit with a relatively better performance from the batters. The never expected defeats in both the Test and ODI series left the then skipper Shakib Al Hasan and his deputy Tamim Iqbal dismissed from their leadership roles.
Current skipper Mushfiqur Rahim has been leading the team since then and the outcomes in most of the series’ and tournaments have so far been satisfactory. With a draw in a Test and a 1-1 ODI series result in Sri Lanka put Bangladesh beaming with confidence before the tour of Zimbabwe kicked-off.
However confusions regarding spots of some of the cricketers in the playing eleven were always under discussion. The inclusion of vice-captain Mahmudullah, replacing middle-order batsman Mominul Hauqe in the first game raised eyebrows from many. The scenario would have been different had Mahmudullah put on a better performance.
But then again why would he only be blamed, the other batsman in the team also failed to step-up which ended with a total score of 283 in two innings just 12 runs more than Zimbabwe skipper Branden Taylor who stamped his authority by scoring centuries in consecutive innings ending up with 271 runs in both innings.
