Bangladesh cricket: Time for the Board to step in

I had an interesting conversation with two former national cricketers soon after Shakib al-Hasan had turned the Second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch dramatically removing three wickets quickly - with two in the same over. The wickets came when New Zealand at 254/4 were cruising towards overtaking Bangladesh's first innings total of 289. In a matter of minutes that was 256/7 when bad light ended the second day's play at 260/7.
The two cricketers were excited. They were full of praises for Shakib's bowling, calling it magical. And they were very excited with Bangladesh cricket as well. One went to the extent of offering a bet that the Bangladesh team would make the Australians bite the dust when they visit Bangladesh soon. I could not join them in their optimism, not after the way the Bangladesh played in the First Test and before that in the 50/50 and the 20/20 series, being whitewashed in both.
Nevertheless, the cricketers' optimism was partly right about Shakib's bowling abilities as well as huge strides in Bangladesh's cricket playing abilities although I felt they exaggerated on both. And for the cricketer who wanted to take a bet on Bangladesh against Australia, his optimism was unrealistic. He should look at the form of the Australian team now thrashing Pakistan. In fact, the two should be cautious about Bangladesh cricket and cricketers after what happened in the Second Test following Shakib's "magical spell." When play started on day 4 following day 3 being rained out, Shakib was able to take another wicket but the New Zealand ended their first innings with a 65-run lead.
What followed thereafter was a nightmare. The Bangladesh team needed a strategy to wipe out the deficit; bat sensibly to score enough runs to rule out a defeat and finally extend the lead to give the bowlers a chance to bowl out the New Zealand team on the final day. The batsmen were competent enough to give Bangladesh the lead and the wicket good enough to help them achieve the required lead.
Instead, Tamim Iqbal made it obvious right at the start of the second innings that as captain and player, he did not even believe in any strategy. He did not seem to know where the match was placed and what was required from him. Worse still, he did not seem to know the difference of batting in a Test match and in the limited-over formats. He batted like he was going to miss his bus and played an atrocious stroke that he had no business playing and less so as he was the captain.  
The batsmen that followed him played like it was not a Test but the shorter version of the game. Thus there was a steady parade of the batsmen getting out when neither the quality of the bowling nor the condition of the pitch warranted the parade. The TV commentators, including Bangladesh's Atahar Khan, were embarrassed that they were covering such a sub-standard game. Thus the Bangladesh team that should have easily scored close to its first innings of 289 and pressed for a victory was out for 173 leaving New Zealand to score 111 that it achieved easily with just one wicket down.
The New Zealand tour, particularly the two Tests, underlined the reasons very clearly and explicitly why the Bangladesh team were whitewashed in all the three formats despite the fact that it is accepted by all that it has reached the stage where it is no longer a pushover. In fact, in the limited formats, no team takes it lightly anymore. In Tests, it is now competitive where in the batting department it has players that can rub shoulders with the best in the world while in bowling, it can cause trouble to any team on a helpful pitch.
Yet it returned from New Zealand embarrassingly white-washed. The defeats were not because New Zealand were a superior team that Bangladesh team were the victim of cricket's pitches prepared to help New Zealand or for the glorious uncertainties of cricket. Bangladesh lost all the three series embarrassingly because the Coach and the Captain did not have a strategy for the team in any of the formats. As a result, the players played as they wished, often going for individual glory. The players, particularly the batsmen, seemed not to believe that cricket is a team game and often put their interests ahead of those of the team.
The main problem of the team in the Test matches was that the batsmen played with the mindset of the limited-over formats. Neither the Coach nor the Captain tried to tell them that Test matches are played over five days and there was no need to hurry or to take unnecessary risks. Taking risks worked in the first innings of the First Test and in a limited way in the first innings of the Second Test but in the end it was the limited-over mindset why in the second innings of the two Tests, Bangladesh's batting folded like a pack of cards and New Zealand won easily and comfortably.
Therefore any sensible Coach and the Captain would have made sure that the Bangladesh batsmen did not play the Test matches with the mindset of the limited-over games. If they had done so then Bangladesh would have certainly saved the First Test honourably having scored a huge total of 596 in the first innings and could even have won the Second Test. The Coach and the Captain did not do their job and therefore must be held as much responsible for the embarrassing defeats as much as the batsmen who let the Team down by their suicidal mindset.
Bangladesh would soon play a Test against India and then go to Sri Lanka for a full series. And then the Australians are also expected to visit Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Cricket Board must address the reasons for its whitewashes in New Zealand to save the country from being further embarrassed that the Bangladesh team, in particular, its batsmen have made palpably obvious to make sure they do not embarrass themselves and the country in the Tests and other matches they would soon play. It must make it clear to the Coach and the Captain that they have both failed miserably in giving the team a strategy.
The Board must also pull up individual batsmen for the team's defeat. Shakib, in particular, must be told in no uncertain terms his brilliant innings of 217 in the First Test and 59 in the Second Test were useless in Team's context because he directly contributed to the team's two defeats by getting out for zero and 7 in the second innings of the two Tests respectively by playing irresponsible shots that he had no business playing and contributing the major share of the team's defeats.
The Board must also pull up Tamim for the way he batted in the second innings of the Second Test when as the Team's opener and captain, he should not have played such an irresponsible shot that opened the door for the Team to fold like a pack of cards. Shakib and Tamim's irresponsible batting at critical times of the Tests encouraged the younger players like Shabbir to follow them with no visible effort from the Coach or the Captain to bring them to their senses.
The Board must make it clear to the batsmen that they are not distinguishing between limited-over games and Test cricket. Since the batsmen, especially the senior players, are showing no signs of changing their mindset, they must be forced to do so and dropped from the team if necessary. Finally, the Board must make it absolutely clear to the players, particularly the batsmen, that the team comes first and not their individual glory. All the leading batsmen were guilty of the last issue and contributed directly to the Test defeats.
The two national cricketers were right about their optimism regarding Bangladesh cricket although they exaggerated their optimism. The Bangladesh cricketers have come a very long away and the team is no longer the pushover in international cricket as it was not too long ago. Yet it is being whitewashed like in the past because there is no one to discipline the players. That is the current tragedy of the Bangladesh cricket team that the Bangladesh Cricket Board must now resolve without delay.
The writer is a former Ambassador.
serajul7@gmail.com