Tigers' transition in Tests continues

Bangladesh's build-up to the first Test against New Zealand -- their opening World Test Championship fixture of the third cycle – had been murky given the absence of key stars. But the team showed that it could live up to the pressure of facing a big side such as New Zealand.

The necessity for transition was inevitable since the Mount Maunganui Test in New Zealand, especially with many of the seniors in the last legs of their careers and often having to opt out of certain formats for injury or other reasons. The Bangladesh team management is keen on the transition process continuing and the win in Sylhet against the Kiwis will strengthen belief in the system.

Captain and ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was unavailable, and so was senior opener Tamim Iqbal, wicketkeeper-batter Liton Das, ace pacer Taskin Ahmed, and hero of Mount Maunganui Test, Ebadot Hossain.

Those would be key absentees for any side but especially for Bangladesh as the team management has always pondered over who would lead the spin attack and be the wicket-taking option in the absence of Shakib. Same could be said about playing without Tamim's assertiveness at the top of the batting order or the diminished pace attack in the absence of Taskin and Ebadot.

Yet, youngsters stood up to the task. Mahmudul Hasan Joy showed the virtue of patience and trust in defence on a sporting track, seeing out the new ball in both innings. Stand-in skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto approached the second innings with more of a Test-cricket approach after a hurried first innings while seniors such as Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque played around the youngsters. Taijul Islam led the spin department with a lot of vitality, picking up crucial wickets while Shoriful Islam found immaculate lengths to trouble batters as the sole pacer.

The wicket, too, appeared to serve the law of average: Not a rage turner but had enough for spinners, good bounce for batters to capitalise on and for pacers to threaten.

Thus following a World Cup debacle, the Test team played to their merit while showing that transition was going well in the longest format.

"We did not have many of our regular players in the squad, so from our point of view, the most important thing was how we could manage without those players against such a big side. From that point of view, the younger stars were able to stand up and be counted," selector Habibul Bashar told The Daily Star yesterday.

"For us, it was not about finding new players to replace the experienced ones but about finding players who we can use since many of the regular stars can miss matches or even a series due to injury and other things," Bashar observed.

There were players such as Shadman Islam, who is in form through the NCL but did not make the first Test eleven. Khaled Ahmed has been a regular feature in Tests and will be waiting in the wings.

"Transition is taking place day by day and so far it is going well. Even Taskin and Ebadot missing means we have Khaled and Hasan [Mahmud], so the gap we expect would be 20 to 18, not 20 to 15," Bashar added.