When cricket's home advantage backfires

The friendship as delineated in the fable of a fox and a crane could not be more appropriate for the relationship between two cricket teams, one hosting the other. While the fox invited his friend crane to offer a delicacy on a flat dish, the crane with its long beak had great difficulty to peck at the liquid food. The feathery friend had to leave with his appetite not at all satisfied but the fox licked the food to the last. Now it was the crane's turn to return the favour. As a host, he now offered the gruel in a thin-necked pot in which the fox could not get to the food with its tongue whereas the crane took full advantage of the long-necked pot.
Now here is a classic case of how the home advantage ---in this case at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla stadium ---can go awry to turn into an anti-climax. This should remind cricket followers of the Indian team's reversal in the WC final. The team of the tournament that played so well at different venues across India to win 12 matches at stretch was given a tailor-made wicket at the Narendra Modi stadium, rather inexplicably. Whoever were the architects of that foolish conspiracy to hunt Australia on a slow and unplayable pitch were paid in their own coins by the shrewd decision of the astute Aussie captain who read the turf cent per cent correctly. What followed next is just routine.
Actually the same happened to the Tigers who, following the reversal in the ODI World Cup in India, wanted to regain their confidence. Batting was incredibly difficult and only the brave like Glenn Phillips who had the temerity to take risk prospered and won the match for the Kiwis to make the series 1-1. Bangladesh's ill-conceived plot boomeranged.
Host cricket teams everywhere prepare the wicket as the doctor orders. This is popularly known as a home advantage. The sub-continental teams were at times accused of preparing slow and turning pitches that used to start crumbling on day two or three of a Test match. Fast and bouncy green pitches were a rarity. It was virtual mine fields on which batters discovered themselves. This explains why India, the team to have received Test status before its independence in 1932, just four years after the West Indies and two years after the New Zealand, had a poor record of triumphs on foreign soil. Pakistan which received Test status in 1952 also struggled like India and in the 1980s did the two teams rose to stature courtesy of some talented batters and bowlers. Before this, India's dependence on spinners, particularly the famous four quartet, was overwhelming.
Pakistan produced some excellent pace bowlers but still the turfs were not as pace-friendly as they should have been. Of late India has produced some genuine pace bowlers who can challenge the best in the world and still the pitches prepared for Test matches in particular, are made to favour spin bowlers. Home advantage is the mantra.
Bangladesh has charted this proven course ever since its attainment of Test status. Then the team also succeeded to make a breakthrough on the pace bowling front lately. Unfortunately, injuries to the fast bowlers have handicapped the team that has just played the two-Test series against the Black Caps.
The first Test was played on a wicket in Sylhet that could not be blamed for making it particularly spin-friendly. Both teams scored three hundred plus runs with NZ taking a lead of 7.0 runs to 317. In the 2nd innings, the difference was made by the Bangladesh captain's superb knock of 105. The Kiwis in their 2nd innings could not cope with the vicious turn spinners extracted from the pitch and were bundled out for 181 runs, conceding a win to the host. Although, the wicket could arguably be suspect but still it complied with home advantage formula.
The Mirpur Test once again provides the lesson that preparing mine fields to bring down big teams on home soil is no guarantee for achieving success abroad. How the weakness was pitiably exposed at the World Cup! The team's performance may be vivisected but that will hardly diagnose the disease originating from the policy- or decision-making levels at work. Let those people who decided the kind of Mirpur pitch, where 15 wickets fell on the first day making the Test third briefest in cricketing history, have a long view of the game.

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