Riyad: A batsman hunted

There was a time when the elegant Mahmudullah Riyad was one of the surest bets in Bangladesh cricket but yesterday, after he once again remained rooted to the crease against Lahiru Kumara and lost his off-stump, he cut the most forlorn of figures as he trudged back to the dressing room at an Inzamam-esque pace.

His twin centuries in the 2015 World Cup against England and New Zealand, following a promotion to the top order in unfriendly conditions for a subcontinent batsman not known for good footwork, showed that he was one of those players whose mind can rule over matter.

But all has not been well in Test cricket since. In the 10 Tests and 17 innings since then, Riyad has had only two 50-plus scores -- 67 against South Africa at home in July 2015 and 64 in his last Test innings before this one in Hyderabad last month. But the temporal proximity of that last innings is scant consolation.

A batsman who through his early-2016 reinvention as a T20 finisher and his earlier exploits in Tests and ODIs (think 2011 World Cup match against England) had in the national consciousness become someone to take the team home, this Test season he has become one who is easy prey to certain modes of attack and also one who seems to let the team down when respite is in sight.

Yesterday, perhaps by design or chance, Sri Lanka skipper Rangana Herath brought on his out-and-out quickie Kumara when Riyad came out to bat. If the Sri Lankans had done their homework they would have known that going back to the Dhaka Test against England last October, through the tours of New Zealand and India, Riyad has displayed marked vulnerability to pace and movement.

The common thread of these dismissals -- variously to Ben Stokes, Neil Wagner and Ishant Sharma -- is a lack of feet movement. But whereas in that World Cup innings against New Zealand in seaming conditions Riyad would compensate for slow feet with late hands -- hinting at a batsman with time --  now he seems to be pushing at deliveries that are rushing him, hinting at a struggle to guess the bowler's intentions instead of playing the ball.

This restlessness seems to have affected his calm play, perhaps because he wants to score as many as he can while he survives. Four times in 11 innings since October 2016, Riyad has departed with the end of session in sight. A waft to Adil Rashid signalled tea with Bangladesh worse off in Chittagong, an ill-advised sweep off Zafar Ansari closed the second day of the Dhaka Test, a strangle down the leg side set Bangladesh back two overs before close on the fourth day in Wellington and a loose drive did the same in Christchurch minutes before tea on the third day. 

He is a batsman currently fighting for form and place, and may have avoided the chop by dint of his 64 in India with Sabbir Rahman -- who incidentally has a better average this season than Riyad's 27.64 -- missing this Test.  

Only Mominul Haque with 25.22 averages worse in the same period. But along with Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul is the one batsman who almost always makes the bowlers earn his wicket and, more importantly, does not have a glaring technical issue that can be exploited. The same, unfortunately for Bangladesh's batting, cannot be said of Riyad.