In the second Test match against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh went back to their tried-and-true formula of a twisting track. It raised the question of whether, having handing out such a surface, Bangladesh had advanced one step while regressing two.
In Chattogram, the inclusion of three spinners in the starting lineup instead of a pace bowler seemed to indicate that Bangladesh had turned back to its traditional methods in an attempt to restore its reputation. This came after the tourists humiliated the hosts in the first Test match by defeating them and giving Zimbabwe their first Test win in more than three years.
The win over Zimbabwe broke Bangladesh’s six-match home losing streak, and it was the result of a tried-and-true strategy the hosts had previously employed: setting up wickets to help spinners demoralise the opposition.
Many in Bangladesh’s cricket community questioned whether switching back to three spinners in their most recent Test match against Zimbabwe instead of other cricketing powerhouses was the right decision, despite the fact that Bangladesh’s pace attack is thought to be getting stronger by the day. Habibul Bashar, a former national selector, did not hold back from venting his dissatisfaction.
“I hope it’s just a one-off Test match (in Chattogram) probably we needed to win a Test match and we are thinking in that direction,” Habibul stated to Cricbuzz.
“Our mindset is crucial, and we all know that we will win if we prepare wickets like this against Zimbabwe. However, we were leaving a mindset that relied too heavily on spinners, and I don’t think we should continue playing with three spinners in wickets to help slow bowlers against a team with a low ranking.
“I think its fine when we go for this formula against teams like South Africa or Australia because against them we need to take home advantage and it is quite normal as other Test playing nations like India and others also do the same,” he stated.
“But there is a question mark about our performance abroad, which is a fact and we were trying to make our batters adapt in bouncy wickets and what I feel is that the first Test match we just couldn’t do it but for that (losing the opening Test on a sporting wicket) if we think in this manner it is wrong,” he stated.
Mohammad Salahuddin, the senior assistant coach for Bangladesh, maintained that using three spinners was mostly a tactical choice.
History has shown us that Chattogram’s pitches are generally batting-friendly. We continued with two pacers because the hot weather rarely helps them. We recently played with three pacers, as you can see, but this is the only special situation because we already know they won’t receive enough help. Salahuddin remarked, “Even Zimbabwe began the game with an additional spinner instead of a pacer.
“In the second Test, we bowled well. We would have won the match even if we could have done the same in Sylhet. In the first Test, neither our pacers nor our spinners performed well. Our bowlers, both pacers and spinners, were patient in taking wickets in the first innings in Chattogram,” he remarked.
As you can see, the spinners had little opportunity to make an impact; Taijul took the majority of his wickets by beating in flight. In the first innings, the bowlers performed a fantastic job of halting the scoring in order to achieve breakthroughs. It would be incorrect, he remarked, if anyone believed that the pitch’s turning characteristics were the reason we were successful.
“We continue to have complete faith in our pacers. However, they slowed down a little after participating in the BPL and DPL. They can restore that pace with the right training. This choice is not the only one that determines whether we move forward or backward. Your cricket career is not determined by just one or two high-level results. We have so many constraints, therefore we have a lot of obstacles to overcome,” he said.
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