Yesterday, on the fourth day of the one-off Test between Bangladesh and Afghanistan, many records were broken at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
Bangladesh won the match by a gigantic margin of 546 runs.
At Mirpur, which is known as a tweakers’ heaven, it was even more surprising to see the Tigers’ pacers take more wickets than the spinners. This was the largest victory margin in terms of runs, but it was an even more refreshing record for the Tigers.
The Bangladeshi fast bowling attack of Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, and Taskin Ahmed was responsible for 14 of the 19 wickets that the Afghans lost over their two innings. Seven of Bangladesh’s wickets were taken by Afghan pacers out of a total of 14, one more than their spinners took, while the other wicket was a run-out. Both innings were played by Afghanistan.
Zahir Khan, the last batsman for Afghanistan in their second innings, retired injured after being hit by a vicious bouncer delivered by Taskin. As a result, the innings was ended with 115 runs scored.
Afghanistan’s first essay score was 146, despite the fact that they were without their renowned leg-spinner Rashid Khan.
Because to the flamboyant left-hander Najmul Hossain Shanto’s back-to-back hundreds, the home side was able to score 382 runs in their first innings and then build up 425 runs total before declaring victory.
However, it was the Tigers’ newly discovered pace battery that has had a more telling influence than just the result itself.
On a usually sluggish and spinning Mirpur ground, the last time Bangladesh pacers got more wickets than spinners was a very long time ago in February 2008, when lanky right-arm fast Shahadat Hossain grabbed a match total of nine wickets including a six-for in the first innings against South Africa. The Tigers were defeated in the match by a score of five wickets.
Pace bowlers have not been welcome in the home of cricket in Mirpur ever since the city played host to the maiden Test match in 2007, which was played against India. In the 25 Tests that it had held before to the Afghanistan game, with a few notable exceptions, it had a reputation for being a “pacers’ graveyard.”
In the 19th Test match played at the site in November 2018, the home team defeated the West Indies by an innings and 184 runs owing to Mehdy Hasan Miraz’s match total of 12 wickets, including 7-58 in the first innings. For the record, the home side did not deploy a single pacer for the match.
The Tigers only fielded one bowler, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, for the 15th Test match that was played in Mirpur in October of 2016. During that historic victory over England by 108 runs, in which off-spinner Miraz grabbed 12 wickets, six in each innings, the bowler only delivered three overs of his allotment of overs to bowl.
Many people get the impression that Bangladesh’s decision to start using speed bowlers in Mirpur was more of an academic exercise than a genuine attempt to exert greater control over the game. The encounter against Ireland in April of this year was the first occasion in the previous ten Test matches that Bangladesh had played at the venue that they fielded three pacers in a Test match. Moreover, that served little to no real function.
In light of this, many people were nervous on the morning of Wednesday, the first day of the one-off test, when the curators at Mirpur showed a green top. This was despite the fact that many of these people had years of expertise.
The surface, on the other hand, was a breath of fresh air for both the bowlers and the batsmen, particularly the seamers, who had one of those rare opportunities to enjoy a field day in the sun.
The bounce, seam movement, and decent carry behind the wicket all disproved the long-held belief that Mirpur could never provide a favorable surface for fast bowlers to bowl on.
However, it was all about a brave move made by the team management, which cricket analysts welcomed as a step forward for Bangladesh in creating a strong pace attack so that the Tigers could be more competitive when they were playing away from home.