Perhaps, its not been the smoothest of journeys in Test cricket for them after all. Bangladesh in this four and a half years of existence in cricket's ultimate test, have often been on the receiving end of stinging criticisms from the cricket intelligentsia. With Javed Miandad joining the hard-talking Aussie bandwagon of Richie Benaud, Shane Warne and Kim Hughes asking for their exclusion from the cricket's elite, Bangladesh have a lot to prove for the patience and the assistance the ICC has been pampering them with. My views do coincide with those of the names mentioned for the plain reason that the young Banglas have failed to deliver in all but one match, that too against a Zimbabwe team which was as good as theirs. So is the ICC going wrong in showing too much of mercy towards a team that in the first place should not have been playing Test cricket in 2000 ?
So what exactly makes Bangladesh a side that never feels amused of what they are "achieving" on and off the field ? Firstly, the cricketing infrastructure they boast of is nothing but a reminder sent to the ICC to justify their Test Status. Yes, they do have a good Under-19 setup (they beat Australia to win the Plate in the Under-19 World Cup) but with these young boys exposed to a class above theirs, their future is bound to suffer. These 16 or 19 year-olds cannot become overnight stars in Bangladesh Cricket. They need to be playing at least 4 or 5 years of rigourous first class cricket to know what survival at the highest level is, and there is no point according to me to have a Bangladesh A side that merely has 8 or 9 of these 16 and 17 year olds who are judged by one knock they play. There needs to be a method in selection (as I have mentioned in my earlier post). Secondly, more concentration needs to be given to FC matches as a result of which the batsmen can learn to stay in the wicket for long and select playable shots. From whatever I learn, Bangladesh is perhaps an ODI-frenzy nation - a reason why 20/20 cricket has been replacing the corporate league there. Thirdly, I somehow feel that Bangladesh has a ready-market for ODI cricket and Test cricket is not something they needed to hurry themselves into. The dearth of results is purely because of the lack of ability to play the waiting game and since ODI cricket comes natural, they play one shot too many and let me be frank on this, Athar Ali Khan may quote Cairns, where they played the Aussie seamers well, but I somehow think that their batsmen are too good for quality bowling attacks. This is a serious food for thought as far as Bangla cricket is concerned. They need to stop portraying this rosy picture about the state of cricket there being healthy and look into harsh and lopsided realities that have affected their survival among the cricket's top teams.
During the first England vs Bangladesh Test at Lords, David Lloyd highlighted the fact that these boys can only learn by gaining experience. Within hours of their defeat, the call for a two-tier system came in from all corners. And this is something that I would keenly like the ICC to consider. My suggestion would be to have a second string of international teams like Bangladesh, Kenya, Zimbabwe, the ICC Intercontinental Cup Champion (currently Scotland), UAE, Uganda et al and let them compete against men of their own caliber, rather than making a mockery of competition and degrading Test Cricket. The cricket fraternity in Bangladesh seriously needs to quiz themselves if they "deserve all this wrath of humiliation and embarrassment" everytime they take the field ? The ICC High Performance team also has its work cut out as far as Bangladesh cricket is concerned, and one can only HOPE that things MAY improve.
I have always believed that the relation between talent and performance is quite distant. And as someone who has been observing Bangla cricket for long, I do reckon that as any other Asian cricketing nation, there is depth of talent in Bangladesh and it is high time the authorities give due credit to it. And it makes no sense for someone as talented as an Alok Kapali or say a Manjural Islam Rana to sit out tours after tours and gain absolutely nothing. Its time the Bangladesh Cricket Board work in the right direction of eradicating the existing vacuum of experience and use it to groom the players of tomorrow.
The ICC have given enough favoured treatment to Bangladesh and it only fits the bill that they constantly keep reminding them of what they have achieved and take measures which will benefit both cricket in that country and the cricketing world overall. Personally, I would recommend a 6 month to one year ban for Bangladesh from Test cricket, if they don't look to improve by the end of this year - as it will also give them the time to solely concentrate on their known forte - One-Day Cricket. I hope Bangladesh do well in the international arena, but if they dont, they sure have to bear the brunt of failures.
So what exactly makes Bangladesh a side that never feels amused of what they are "achieving" on and off the field ? Firstly, the cricketing infrastructure they boast of is nothing but a reminder sent to the ICC to justify their Test Status. Yes, they do have a good Under-19 setup (they beat Australia to win the Plate in the Under-19 World Cup) but with these young boys exposed to a class above theirs, their future is bound to suffer. These 16 or 19 year-olds cannot become overnight stars in Bangladesh Cricket. They need to be playing at least 4 or 5 years of rigourous first class cricket to know what survival at the highest level is, and there is no point according to me to have a Bangladesh A side that merely has 8 or 9 of these 16 and 17 year olds who are judged by one knock they play. There needs to be a method in selection (as I have mentioned in my earlier post). Secondly, more concentration needs to be given to FC matches as a result of which the batsmen can learn to stay in the wicket for long and select playable shots. From whatever I learn, Bangladesh is perhaps an ODI-frenzy nation - a reason why 20/20 cricket has been replacing the corporate league there. Thirdly, I somehow feel that Bangladesh has a ready-market for ODI cricket and Test cricket is not something they needed to hurry themselves into. The dearth of results is purely because of the lack of ability to play the waiting game and since ODI cricket comes natural, they play one shot too many and let me be frank on this, Athar Ali Khan may quote Cairns, where they played the Aussie seamers well, but I somehow think that their batsmen are too good for quality bowling attacks. This is a serious food for thought as far as Bangla cricket is concerned. They need to stop portraying this rosy picture about the state of cricket there being healthy and look into harsh and lopsided realities that have affected their survival among the cricket's top teams.
During the first England vs Bangladesh Test at Lords, David Lloyd highlighted the fact that these boys can only learn by gaining experience. Within hours of their defeat, the call for a two-tier system came in from all corners. And this is something that I would keenly like the ICC to consider. My suggestion would be to have a second string of international teams like Bangladesh, Kenya, Zimbabwe, the ICC Intercontinental Cup Champion (currently Scotland), UAE, Uganda et al and let them compete against men of their own caliber, rather than making a mockery of competition and degrading Test Cricket. The cricket fraternity in Bangladesh seriously needs to quiz themselves if they "deserve all this wrath of humiliation and embarrassment" everytime they take the field ? The ICC High Performance team also has its work cut out as far as Bangladesh cricket is concerned, and one can only HOPE that things MAY improve.
I have always believed that the relation between talent and performance is quite distant. And as someone who has been observing Bangla cricket for long, I do reckon that as any other Asian cricketing nation, there is depth of talent in Bangladesh and it is high time the authorities give due credit to it. And it makes no sense for someone as talented as an Alok Kapali or say a Manjural Islam Rana to sit out tours after tours and gain absolutely nothing. Its time the Bangladesh Cricket Board work in the right direction of eradicating the existing vacuum of experience and use it to groom the players of tomorrow.
The ICC have given enough favoured treatment to Bangladesh and it only fits the bill that they constantly keep reminding them of what they have achieved and take measures which will benefit both cricket in that country and the cricketing world overall. Personally, I would recommend a 6 month to one year ban for Bangladesh from Test cricket, if they don't look to improve by the end of this year - as it will also give them the time to solely concentrate on their known forte - One-Day Cricket. I hope Bangladesh do well in the international arena, but if they dont, they sure have to bear the brunt of failures.
