Following a historic win in the first Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui, the confident Bangladesh seamers saw the other side of the coin in Christchurch as they were made to toil by the hosts, who concluded the first day of the second Test on a dominant 349 for 1.
It was obvious that expectations would skyrocket after the pacers’ brilliant showing in the first Test saw them bundle out the Kiwis twice on way to registering a maiden win over New Zealand on their soil. But the Bangladeshi pacers’ lack of experience, borne of a lack of exposure, especially when it comes to adapting to different surfaces was visibly clear in Christchurch after skipper Mominul Haque won the toss and elected to field on a green top at the Hagley Oval.
The bowling line-up was unchanged from the first Test but there was a stark difference when it came to application whether it was the hero of the first Test, Ebadot Hossain, or Taskin Ahmed or Shoriful Islam. Shoriful got the only wicket as the Kiwis maintained a healthy run-rate of nearly four per over.
A lack of patience from the Bangladeshi seamers was also stood in contrast to what they had shown in the first Test as the pacers continued hunting for glory instead of making things difficult for the batters.
Skipper Tom Latham used the pace of the bowlers to score 21 of his 29 boundaries, being offered enough width to reach an unbeaten 186-run knock.
“I think it’s the length that made all the difference and I think our pacers couldn’t adjust to the length in Christchurch. Obviously, they were pumped up after seeing the green top but I think they lacked in maintaining a tight channel. Even when you have favorable conditions and pitches for the seamers, it is important to utilise that properly,” local pace bowling coach Mahbub Ali Zaki, who works at the grassroots levels of Bangladesh cricket, told The Daily Star. However, it will be too harsh to point fingers at the relatively inexperienced Bangladesh pace trio. Despite their brilliant showing in the first Test, Zaki believes the Kiwis would always look to come back strongly after the defeat.
“We all knew New Zealand would come at us hard after that defeat. From Bangladesh’s point of view, it is important to keep going through the process. It is still early days for our bowlers in Test cricket and they also need to be thrown in difficult situations which they can learn from. I am sure the players will have a look at the wagon wheel of the first day and realise where things went wrong for them,” he said.
The win in Mount Maunganui may have raised hopes of a better future for the Tigers in the longest format, but there is still a long way to go if Bangladesh are to become a consistent side. According to Taskin’s mentor, that will require huge transformations at the grassroots level. “We need to accept that our boys have done tremendously well despite all the limitations and are already proving what they are capable of. But the fact is that we cannot sit back and wait for things to happen on a regular basis so we need to work accordingly.
“We need to have a pace bowling hub, where coaches will work on swing, bounce, pace and line and length throughout the year. Our bowlers need to know where to bowl on different surfaces and that hub will prepare them mentally and physically for the top-level instead of expecting them to deliver without those skills,” Zaki said.
