Bangladesh fans watch the first day of their day-night Test against India at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 22, 2019. — AFP photo
Bangladesh’s woeful performance on the field in Test cricket is now starting to reflect on their rankings, with the Tigers staring at a demotion if newcomers Afghanistan pull off a victory in their one-off Test against West Indies, starting today in Lucknow, India.
After their humiliating 0-2 loss against India in the two-Test series, where they failed to make India bat twice in both the matches, Bangladesh currently stand unchanged at number nine in the Test rankings with 61 rating points.
Afghanistan, who have just played three matches in the longest format since earning their Test status in 2012 along with Ireland, are breathing down Bangladesh’s necks, with 55 rating points to stand in tenth position in the 12-team rankings.
If Afghanistan secure a win against the Caribbean, it would take their rating point to 74, meaning they will overtake Bangladesh, and the Tigers will again return to number 10 in the Test rankings.
If the match ends in a draw both Bangladesh and Afghanistan will stand on 61 points but Afghanistan will still go ahead by a fraction.
It means only a West Indies win could keep Bangladesh ahead of Afghanistan in Tests, a format they had entered 19 years back, when Afghanistan didn’t even had an official cricket team.
Afghanistan will be high on confidence going into the contest, as they won the preceding three-match Twenty20 series 2-1 and have made good headway in their short time in cricket’s oldest format, having displayed matured performance both with bat and ball, something Bangladesh are still searching for.
Since their emergence as the tenth Test playing nation in 2000, Bangladesh have failed to show any consistent development, with patches of good performance being intertwined with long hauls of embarrassing displays.
In January, 2006, Bangladesh earned their first promotion in Test team rankings, going one place up to number nine, but not owing to their performance but because of the turmoil going on Zimbabwe cricket, which prompted them to go into self-exile from Tests.
By August, 2008 the situation worsened for Bangladesh as their rating point dropped to naught, which was a previously unprecedented sight in Test arena.
Three years later, Zimbabwe decided to return to Test cricket and faced the Tigers in their comeback match in Harare.
Bangladesh were favourites to win the match, but they failed to show any dominance against a side who were playing a Test match after a five-year sabbatical, losing the match by 130-run that again took them to number 10 in the rankings.
The loss seemed to be the wake-up call Bangladesh required as they began to improve their statistics in the format, with 10 wins and the same number of draws in their next 43 Tests till 2018, including first-ever wins against Sri Lanka, England and Australia.
But in 2019, Bangladesh against lost their way, losing all five of their Tests, four of which ended in innings defeats at away Tests against New Zealand and India and the other one being against Afghanistan at home.
Bangladesh Test team is currently facing scathing criticism from the cricketing fraternity both at home and abroad, making headlines for all the wrong reasons and if the Afghans bring up their third straight win in Tests, further ignominy will be added to the Tigers fate.
Source: New Age.