Blame the circus around Shahadat

With only 2.2 overs left before the Tea break on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand, Bangladesh were on the verge of going for a satisfying recess with an impressive score of 180-2 on the board.  

Naturally, the expectation was that the home side would go on for a cup of tea and then return to build on that total.  

But that was not to be as a typical brain-freeze among the batters neither allowed them to have a satisfying tea break nor a total at the end of the day that they could be proud of. 

They finished the day on 310-9, a score that not only negated their early advantage but also allowed the visitors to come back into the game big way.  

The Tigers lost two wickets in five deliveries before Tea and then another five in the final session, with six of those gifted rather than earned.  

Watching the horror show unfold, it would be a mistake to say that the Bangladesh batters were out there to play Test cricket. 

The hara-kiri started with Mominul Hoque inside-edging a cut shot too close to his stumps at a time when the experienced batter was supposed to play safe, given that the tea interval was only a couple of overs away.  

Young opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who was playing so well for a brilliant 86, then perished to a looping leg break from Ish Sodhi as the Tigers headed for Tea at 184-4.  

When they returned, they attempted to be spectacular rather than assertive. 

Experienced batters like Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidi Hasan Miraz, and Nurul Hasan Sohan came to the crease sporting their dancing boots and duly perished.  

Mushfiqur, on 12, inexplicably danced down the wicket against left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel and ended up offering a tame catch to mid-off.  

Miraz was out there to belt around the short balls that seven-foot Kiwi pacer Kyle Jamieson hurled at him. Although the occasion demanded Miraz to duck the short deliveries in an attempt to consolidate the innings, Miraz did nothing of the sort. He hurled his bat like a headless chicken as Jamieson put him out of his misery with short stuff.  

Sohan tried to play like Miraz and was extremely lucky as those edges flew past the slip cordon. His outrageous attacking style of play against pace gave the impression that he was chasing 50-odd runs in three-odd overs for victory in a slam-bang T20 game. 

There was a cool head in Test debutant Shahadat Hossain amid the mayhem. The young right-hander was playing like a true Test batter. But on 24, he suddenly came down the wicket and drove the ball straight to the throat of the fielder at mid-wicket.  

It was a rash shot. But don't blame the youngster for committing a false stroke. Blame it on the circus that his vastly experienced peers demonstrated around him when they were supposed to lead by example.