Lull period for Tigers in Birmingham

India batters Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant gifted their bats to Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan after the second and final Test between the sides at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur on Tuesday. It was Shakib's final away Test for Bangladesh who lost the match by seven wickets and went down 2-0 in the series. Kohli brought out his bat and gave it to Shakib and Pant followed suit as players from both sides started to gather for the presentation ceremony. Photo: BCB 

Peter Butler, Bangladesh women's football team's head coach, emerged a different man from what he was three days earlier following a frustrating 1-1 draw in the first match of SAFF Women's Championship against Pakistan in Kathmandu.

The former West Ham midfielder was firing on all cylinders after that Pakistan result, taking a swipe at whoever questioned his team selection or pointed to the listless performance of the players.

Following criticism from his own players, the 58-year-old coach had dared his team to show their worth, and disclosed to media that he might play more senior players to fulfil the team's wish.

He did just that, replacing young Kohati Kisku and Sapna Rani with experienced Masura Parvin and Maria Manda. And that seemed to have made a massive difference as Bangladesh roared to a 3-1 win against five-time champions India last night.

Butler praised his players including those he had not regarded in the starting eleven for the first match. He admitted that those decisions paid off as both Masura and Maria played important roles in their specific positions.

"I'm delighted, really really delighted. I thought we played against a strong, direct team. I thought we outplayed them for long long periods," Butler said at the post-match press conference.

"I'm really proud of the players who came in, such as Masura (Parvin), Maria (Manda) and Sabina (Khatun). I thought they did extremely well," Butler said, adding that players like Masura and Maria, when at top of their game, help the team perform to their full potential.

Contrary to his first-day countenance, the Englishman was much calmer and more self-reflective during yesterday's press conference. However, he didn't let the opportunity pass without having a sly dig at, perhaps Monika Chakma, who had accused the coach of driving a wedge between senior and junior players.

"Sometimes less said, less mended. Best (is) sometimes keeping your mouth shut, saying nothing and things will calm down," Butler said, before going on to add: "All credit to the girls tonight. I'm just a coach, I'm just a humble coach who picks the team and puts on the training session and picks the theme of training."

The Bangladesh coach hinted that he tried to instill unity in the team following the criticism and the fallout from what Monika had said.

"The message to the players tonight was to go out express yourselves. Let's play attacking football, play for your family, play for your shirt, but most important thing is, stick together as a unit. I think they did just that."

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said it was frustrating not to be able to play due to rain after Day 2 of the second Test against India in Kanpur was washed out.  

Bangladesh reached 107-3 on the previous day when only 35 overs were played before bad light and subsequent rain suspended proceedings. 

"It's very frustrating as a player. The match started after so many difficulties and was played for a while as well and then stopped. It is frustrating for players. There is nothing to do," Shanto told reporters on Saturday. 

Shanto was one of the three wickets that fell on Day 1. The left-handed batter, who registered one half-century in his previous 12 Test innings, scored 31 before he was trapped lbw by India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.  

"I think we lost an additional wicket.  We started well with the bat. Our position is still good. I wouldn't say it's too bad. We still have a lot of batters left. We can go towards a good position if we can have a couple of partnerships. At this point, I would say we are in the middle.    

"The wicket was good. The challenge here is that the play is being interrupted [due to rain]; it's an on-and-off thing. The batters have to bat with the concern that rain can become an obstacle at any time which is tough."

There are some positive signs and a few ill omens for Bangladesh ahead of their second and final Test against hosts India, beginning tomorrow in Kanpur. 

The Najmul Hossain Shanto-led Bangladesh will be hoping to bounce back from a 280-run hammering, received in the first Test in Chennai last week, when they step onto the Green Park stadium for their final World Test Championship fixture of the tour tomorrow. 

Given the speculations that the surface at the Green Park stadium will be anything but green -- as per reports from Indian media outlets that the surface to be used in the second Test will have a covering of black soil, aiding spinners more -- Bangladesh can take hope from the fact that a number of their batters have had comparatively better success against spinners than their Indian counterparts in the longer format in recent time. 

Considering the middle and lower-middle order (from position 4-8) of the two sides' batting line-up from the last Test in Chennai, only India batter Rishabh Pant has fared better against spinners than any of the Bangladesh batters in Tests since 2022. 

Pant, who usually approaches any format in an aggressive mindset and is unafraid of using his feet against spinners, averaged 60.62 against spinners since 2022. His staggering strike rate of 117.43 against spinners during this period is also the highest among any batters in the two sides' current squad. 

However, apart from Pant, the other Indian batters who bat in the middle and lower-middle order have not fared better than Bangladesh's batters who batted in the same position in Tests since 2022. During this period, the likes of Virat Kohli (32.78 avg), KL Rahul (21.87 avg), Ravindra Jadeja (39.2 avg), and Ravichandran Ashwin (25.35 avg) have had tougher times against spinners compared to Liton Das (56.44 avg), Shakib Al Hasan (46.33 avg), and Mushfiqur Rahim (46.21 avg). 

Only Mominul Haque (32.18 avg), who usually bats at number four, and Mehedi Hasan Miraz (35.20 avg) down the order have had batting averages below 40 against spinners in Tests since 2022.

Even Bangladesh skipper Shanto, who has been trusted with the crucial number three position in Tests for a while now, has had a healthy 40.69 average against spinners while India captain Rohit Sharma struggled with a 35.13 average against spinners during this period. 

Bangladesh are also likely to have better success with spin against two of India's stalwarts -- skipper Rohit and Kohli. It marked Kohli's 14th dismissal against a spinner in his last 19 innings when the star batter was trapped in front by off-spinner Miraz in the Chennai Test. 

In fact, off-spinners have been particularly effective against Kohli, dismissing him eight times in his last 17 innings. 

Meanwhile, Rohit, who was dismissed by pacers Hasan Mahmud and Taskin Ahmed in the two innings in the Chennai Test, has fallen prey to both off-spinners and left-arm orthodox bowlers seven times in his last 17 innings.  
  
However, the Tigers will have to be wary against the Indian top-order, particularly against Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill. Jaiswal, who has played only 10 Tests since making his debut against the West Indies in July 2023, has played spinners with ease in the longer format, averaging 114.66. 

Gill, meanwhile, has averaged 50.12 in the 31 innings he batted against spinners in his Test career so far.   

Given what the statistics suggest, it would probably bode well for the Tigers if the pacers could claim the wickets of the Gill-Jiaswal duo before they get settled on a track that is suggested to aid the spinners more as time goes on.

The most concerning factor for Bangladesh, however, would be if India decide to bolster their spin arsenal by including left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav for the game in Kanpur. 

While left-arm wrist spinners are a rare breed in cricket and players very rarely have to encounter such a bowler, one particular fact could give everyone a clear idea as to how the Tigers might fare against Yadav. 

Bangladesh are the worst team when it comes to negotiating leg-spin in Tests, losing a wicket in every 48 deliveries. 

South Africa fare the best against leg-spinners in Tests, surviving 75 deliveries before giving a wicket to a leggie. Following suit in this regard are: India (74 deliveries for each wicket), New Zealand (73 deliveries for each wicket), Australia (70 deliveries for each wicket), England (67 deliveries for each wicket), Pakistan (64 deliveries for each wicket), Sri Lanka (63 deliveries for each wicket), Zimbabwe (60 deliveries for each wicket), Afghanistan (57 deliveries for each wicket) and Ireland (49 deliveries for each wicket).

A number of possibilities as well as concerns pop up when statistics are brought into the equation. But it does not change the fact that the game would be won by the side that will be able to play better cricket on the day.

Bangladesh might be miles behind India when it comes to strengths in the longer format, but some of the positive statistics might just help boost the Tigers' confidence ahead of facing the number two side in the ICC Test rankings at their den.        

Shakib Al Hasan, a name that has been synonymous with the Bangladesh cricket team in all three formats for almost 18 years, called time on his T20I career yesterday at a press conference in Kanpur ahead of today's second and final Test against hosts India, pulling down the curtain on an illustrious international career in the shortest format.

"I am not hurt or disappointed. I think it is the right time to move on and create a place for the new players," Shakib told the media yesterday.

This announcement ended Shakib's journey in T20Is, which began with Bangladesh's first-ever match in the format on November 28, 2006, at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna against Zimbabwe.

His 129th and final match for the Tigers in the shortest format was their Super Eights match of the ICC T20 World Cup against Afghanistan in Kingstown on June 24 earlier this year, which they lost by eight runs.

His T20I career, easily the greatest among all Bangladeshi cricketers, ended in a whimper considering the last thing he did in the format was to give a simple return catch to Naveen-ul-Haq to depart for a first-ball duck.

But that does not take away anything from his incredible career, one that certainly puts him in contention of being called the greatest all-rounder in T20Is till now.

Now, the debate on who is the greatest all-rounder of all time in cricket has been raging on for decades, with many candidates for the top-most spot but none being the clear-cut choice.

The evolution of the game from its primitive days to the modern era, the changes in laws and playing conditions, and the introduction of a brand new format in the 2000s have only added to the complexities of the debate with no clear consensus on who is the best ever.

But instead of trying to find the greatest all-rounder in all of cricket, if one goes format by format, he/she would be hard-pressed to find an all-rounder with a better career in T20Is than Shakib.

Shakib's T20I career spanned 17 years and 209 days, longer than any other player in the world.

The 37-year-old is both Bangladesh's highest run-getter and wicket-taker in the format and was either the top-ranked all-rounder or at least thereabouts for the majority of this period.

Shakib also has five player-of-the-series awards, the joint second-highest in the world. With 2551 runs, he ranks 13th in the list of highest run-getters in the format and the only all-rounder who is ahead of him is Australia's Glenn Maxwell at 10th with 2600 runs.

He is also third in the wicket-taker's list with 149 wickets, whereas Maxwell has only 43 to his name.

Shakib's detractors, over the years, have pointed to the lack of quality opponents he has faced. But the pressure Shakib had to endure to carry a team devoid of stars in the shortest format should not be forgotten.

Through his performances in T20Is, Shakib made his way into T20 leagues across the world and was the first to show that a player from Bangladesh can become a highly sought-after commodity in world cricket. More than anything, that will be the lasting legacy of Shakib's T20I career.