Bangladesh’s preparations for the first Test against New Zealand, their first World Test Championship match of the third cycle, had been clouded by the absence of important players. However, the team demonstrated that it could handle the pressure of facing a big team like New Zealand.
Since the Mount Maunganui Test in New Zealand, the need for transition has been unavoidable, especially with several of the seniors nearing the end of their careers and frequently having to opt out of various forms due to injury or other reasons. The Bangladesh team management is committed to the transition process continuing, and the victory over the Kiwis in Sylhet will boost faith in the system.
Shakib Al Hasan, the captain and star all-rounder, was unavailable, as were senior opener Tamim Iqbal, wicketkeeper-batter Liton Das, ace pacer Taskin Ahmed, and Mount Maunganui Test hero Ebadot Hossain.
Those would be significant absences for any team, but especially for Bangladesh, whose management has long debated who would lead the spin attack and take wickets in Shakib’s absence. The same might be said for playing without Tamim’s aggressiveness at the top of the batting order, or for the reduced pace attack in the absence of Taskin and Ebadot.
Nonetheless, the youngsters rose to the occasion. On a sporting pitch, Mahmudul Hasan Joy demonstrated the virtues of patience and trust in defence by seeing out the new ball in both innings. After a rushed first innings, stand-in skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto handled the second innings with a more Test-cricket approach, as seniors such as Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque played around the kids. Taijul Islam commanded the spin department with vigour, scooping up critical wickets, while Shoriful Islam, the solitary pacer, found excellent lengths to challenge hitters.
The surface, too, appeared to obey the law of averages: not a raging turner, but with enough bounce for spinners to exploit and pacers to threaten.
Following a World Cup disaster, the Test team played to their strengths while demonstrating that the transition was going well in the longest format.
“Because we didn’t have many of our regular players in the squad, the most important thing for us was how we could manage without those players against such a big side.” “From that perspective, the younger stars were able to stand up and be counted,” selector Habibul Bashar said yesterday to The Daily Star.
“For us, it was not about finding new players to replace the experienced ones but about finding players who we can use since many of the regular stars can miss matches or even a series due to injury and other things,” he said.
There were players like Shadman Islam, who has been playing well in the NCL but did not make the first Test eleven. Khaled Ahmed, who has been a regular in Tests, will be waiting in the wings.
“The transition is happening day by day, and it’s going well so far.” “With Taskin and Ebadot absent, we have Khaled and Hasan [Mahmud], so the expected gap is 20 to 18, not 20 to 15,” Bashar continued.