Early NCL ends expose Test woes

Even after 24 years since Bangladesh's first Test, the persistent problems of poor batting and substandard wickets in the domestic circuit, evidenced in the National Cricket League's (NCL) fifth-round fixtures, highlight why the national team continues to struggle in the red-ball format.

Three out of four NCL matches ended yesterday and, interestingly, all three four-day matches finished within the first session of the third day, with as many as five sessions left to play, meaning a big chunk of time was not required to achieve results.

At Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, staging its solitary fixture of the competition, Dhaka Division finally clinched their first win in the ongoing meet after four consecutive draws, beating Khulna Division by nine wickets. They reached their target of 104 runs in just 17.2 overs, finishing the game in just one hour and 17 minutes on the third day.

Dhaka pacer Anamul Haque, who claimed five wickets, including 4-17 in the second innings, felt the wicket was "60-40" in favour of the bowlers but denied that it was completely unplayable for the batters.

"See the way we batted today [yesterday] in our second innings, it shows the wicket had support for the batters as well. After our first innings, we discussed how poor we batted in that innings. Actually, our bowlers were outstanding throughout the match and that's why we could able to clinch victory. Khulna batters also didn't bat well here," Anamul, the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing NCL with 26 scalps, told The Daily Star today.

There was a similar realisation at Khulna's Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, as league leaders Sylhet Division closed in on clinching their maiden NCL title after beating Dhaka Metro by an innings and 139 runs.

Resuming on an overnight score of 49-4, Dhaka Metro lost their remaining six wickets in just 13.4 overs. Sylhet pacer Khaled Ahmed was the chief wrecker, claiming a five-for in the second innings.

Sylhet head coach Rajin Saleh said, "I will give full credit to my bowlers. Many of them are national team players and they provided similar performance on the field for us… I think the wicket was good for both batting and bowling. If it only favoured the bowlers, then how did our team score 376 runs in the first innings?"

However, there were different statements coming from Chattogram's Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS), where Chattogram clinched their second successive win after beating Rajshahi Division by nine wickets.

Resuming on an overnight score of 202-8, Rajshahi added only 18 runs before Chattogram reached the target of 81 runs in 17.4 overs in the opening session.

"The wicket wasn't a typical ZACS wicket. In previous times, the venue provided good wickets. The balls were staying low, and the soil was also causing the ball to seam at times," Rajshahi all-rounder Sabbir Hossain said.

"What I heard is that the main curator [Zahid Reza Babu] is sick and he's in Dhaka. As the head curator was absent, I feel that can be one of the reasons for such conditions," he added.

Whether it is the batters' poor batting performance or unsatisfactory pitches, the ongoing NCL is exposing the deep-rooted issues in Bangladesh's domestic cricket, which makes progress in Test cricket an increasingly steeper challenge.