Soft underbelly of Tigers’ Test batting re-exposed

It happened all over again, a familiar batting collapse that is now part and parcel of Bangladesh's Test cricket, as the Bangladesh first innings crumbled from 96 for one to 178 all out on the third day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chattogram yesterday.

It was the fifth consecutive innings where Bangladesh's score failed to reach 200. While the preceding ones happened across a variety of conditions, the latest collapse was arguably the most surprising, given the flat nature of the deck at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

Test cricket is about resilience and despite Zakir Hasan's and Mominul Hasque's resistance, the batting side failed as a unit and the latter appeared to be out there on his own.

There is no scoreboard pressure in Tests because every scenario in Test cricket is of a testing nature. However, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto felt that pressure when he played a Prabath Jayasuriya delivery uppishly to mid-wicket after a few dots.

Another struggling batter in Liton Das hung his bat to one that was wide enough to be left alone. Asitha Fernando came from wide of the crease and angled one into Shahadat Hosssain Dipu, providing an opportunity for the batter to consider playing at it, resulting in him getting out caught at slips.

These were regulation dismissals which also show that the required mental clarity was missing. For in Tests, wicket has to be earned despite it being a bowler's game. It is the batters that have to grind it out and survive onslaughts.

Result is the end product but, in the process, the Tigers show their soft underbelly more often than not. In 276 Test innings, Bangladesh have now been bundled out for less than 200 in 102 innings.

It is a team management failure when, despite a Test win against New Zealand in Sylhet last year, a Mirpur track unfit for Tests was thrown in for the second Test as batters from both sides struggled. That kind of thinking also shows the lack of faith in batters' ability to grind it out across successive Tests.

So a spinning track lacking in true bounce meant batters had to go aggressively to get anything on the board in Mirpur. New Zealand had succeeded better under those circumstances. In the long run though, Test mettle takes a hit.

If coaches come to a press event and ask for "Liton [Das] to be left alone" amid criticism, that kind of environment will not build mentality either.

Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, who oversaw growth of stars such as Shakib Al Hasan and is mentor of many national team players, feels Test cricket mentality has deteriorated because the environment does not build accountability.

Asked about the difference in cultures between what was seen in country's cricket to what is seen now, he said: "While the likes of Shakib or Mushfiqur Rahim were growing up, they had that mentality that 'we can't lose'. Right now of course current players don't want to lose but the environment is not the same.

"You look at club cricket or other domestic games, the environment is different. Batting in Tests, it's about your dignity and self-respect. You have to create ownership in players and allow them to take responsibility. The domestic structure isn't creating that; one look at how teams are built would show you that. Our cricket culture was far better before because they learned that grind. Players are not owning their trades now, they are being treated as mere employees."