Bangladesh Watch 2015-2019

[Kriterion_BD]

We've just lost 9 wickets for 49 runs. Went from 171-1 to 220 all out.

We are the supreme emperors of collapses, ever since that WT20 game against India were we failed to score 3 off the final over to win.

I just hope our spinners can knock England over and make some sort of a game out of this.

[CrimsonAvenger]

We are the supreme emperors of collapses

Nah! That's our trademark...

Anyway, 220 is not a bad score. They would be kicking themselves no doubt, but England can implode too, and BD spin brigade is clearly more capable as it is already on display.

[grant]

Are there any BD seamers who can reverse the ball?

[Kriterion_BD]

^I think Mustafiz can reverse the ball. At least he appeared to do so in the only Test he's played so far.

Rubel can reverse the white ball pretty well, reverses the red ball on occaision.

Taskin I think can also reverse the white ball. Not sure how much seam position affects reverse swing but he has perhaps the best seam position I've seen. The only issue is he shows the ball to batsman very conspicuously so even if he cannreverse it, the batsman would read it with ease.

[Kriterion_BD]

50th Test match for skipper Mushfiqur.

But this will be his biggest game yet. We desperately need him to carry his bat through this innings and display even more of the grit he showed in the Chittagong Test where he battled Ben Stokes' reverse swing.

We piled on 152-3 in just 31 overs so far, an indication that we want to get as many as possible before the ball starts reversing. We really need to set at least 250 for England if we are to have a shot at beating the Poms and drawing the series.

[Jemisi]

Congrats Kriterion. Breakthrough victory for BD

[Kriterion_BD]

Thanks brother Jemisi!

Will post more thoughts tomorrow after I sleep this game off. I was heading off to bed when England were 100-0 at tea. Glad I checked the score, saw 100-1 and decided to tune in.

[Jemisi]

Glad you didn't miss it!

[foreignfield]

Well played, Tigers!

[Kriterion_BD]

Thanks, FF, my German brother!

Now I know how you guys felt when toppling Pakistan in 2013. If only I knew then I'd have to wait another 3+ years...I've been following cricket since the 2003 World Cup (was introduced to the game back in 1997 by my cousins during a summer trip to Bangladesh) and its been almost 14 years to finally get to taste the feeling of belonging and arrival!

I had predicted a major Test win in the OP of this thread, wasn't exactly sure when it was coming, but we've finally got that monkey off our backs and locked up the demons of Multan, Fatullah, Chittagong (2x!), and Dhaka.

A long way to go to get into the top 4 or 5 teams, but I think we've just gone past the WI now (if they go onto lose to PAK 3-0), but maybe the Windies will be just a whisker ahead still, I dunno.

We should have been nursing a 1-0 win after we choked in Chittagong last week, and looked like a repeat job when we were 171-1 and then collapsed to 220 all out. Then were looking at a sizeable lead with England at 144-8, but England snuck ahead to a 24 run first innings lead.

We batted well, if not spectacularly, to set England a target of 273 (never easy in the SC, unless its against Bangladesh) and England looked like winning by 8 or 9 wickets when they reached tea at 100-0. Yes, without loss on a rank turner where the ball stopped turning for some reason. I was about ready to go to be, despondent and pissed off. Something made me check the score on my phone and when it said 100-1, my dumb ass thought it would be worthwhile to watch what would now only be a 9 wicket loss.

The rest is history.

Where does BD go from here? Obviously, we need to win overseas to really be considered a top side.

Asian teams have historically been poor travelers, so we shouldn't disgrace ourselves, no matter what. Here's a look at some interesting stats:

Non Asian Test team records in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, or UAE

SA - 0.785
AUS - 0.750
ENG - 0.655
WI - 0.580
NZ - 0.250

Subcontinent Test team records in Austrailia, England, South Africa, or New Zealand

PAK - 0.482
IND - 0.243
SL - 0.162

You can see, that historically Asians have been significantly poorer travellers than the non-Asian sides. In other words, its easier for people to adjust to our conditions than it is for us to adjust to theirs.

Its important to emphasize that Bangladesh were missing our 3 best fast bowlers for this series. Mustafiz out injured, Taskin deemed not fit enough, and Mohammad Shahid also injured. Mustafiz in particular would have loved to bowl on these gripping surfaces. The trio should be back for our tour to NZ in January, so fingers crossed they'll be fit by that time.

The top order batting is set, but both Mahmudullah and Mominul seem to be out of form/confidence/match fitness. Mominul did end up scoring the 3rd highest innings in this match and his first innings 66 was vital to Bangladesh's win, so I'm not too displeased. However, his batting average is only a shade above 50 now at 51.66. His last few Tests were played on spinning tracks, so its understandable but I'd like to see his average stay in the mid 50s or even touching 60.

19 wickets in the series for teenage debutant Mehedi Hasan Miraz, but his batting was a let down. I still hope and think he can be a decent #8 and average 20-25. But 6 runs from 4 innings isn't the brightest start to once's batting career. But he made up for it with his tremendous bowling.

The only real question is, can we fit in Mosaddek Hossain somewhere in the lineup and should we pick a specialist keeper and have Mushfiq move up a slot or two as a specialist batter. Time will tell.