Also shows the ICC Test championship is wrong, either Afghanistan, Zimbabwe & Ireland should have been included or Bangladesh should have been left out also, they’ve now lost at home to Zimbabwe & Afghanistan inside the last 12 months.
The original plan was to leave out Bangladesh, Windies, and Sri Lanka (ie top 6 only) but those smaller 3 boards opposed the plan. Sri Lanka whitewashed Australia 3-0, BD drew a series in Sri Lanka, and WI won Tests in England and UAE.
If the Afghans get another big scalp, which they will if they play Windies or South Africa on a turning wicket, they might get added to the WTC.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
There is only one way Bangladesh can successfully spin this Test loss as an anomaly. They have to push India hard in at least one of the Tests in November. And by hard I mean one of the following:
- win the game (not happening in all likelhood)
- draw the game (10% chance)
The real marker will be if all 4 results are roughly equally likely after day 3. Or take the game past tea on day 5.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
Just saw a short video podcast about this result, it it made some goods points, which I will summarize here:
1) The defeat of a team with 20 years of Test experience by one with 2 matches experience was the litmus test of BD cricket's progress.
2) The blame rests with 3 groups of people: the BCB, the players, and the fans. The BCB's management is always short sighted, the players' execution was poor, and the fans' unrelenting adulation means that neither the BCB nor the players have to change anything.
3) Yes, Bangladesh has beaten teams like Australia and England, but if you play for 20 years, you will get a few fluke wins here and there.
I don't necessarily agree with everything that was said, but its an important discussion to have if BD cricket wants to avoid such things in the future.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
This loss will really hurt, bragging rights for eternity
Bangladesh love to manufacture debut losses. We lost our first ODI vs Afghanistan as well (also at home). I am hoping we can cut the deficit down to under 100. Still possible with Mosaddek looking rock solid, and Taijul not looking to shabby either. Nayeem is at least as good a batter as Taijul.
If we cut the deficit to say 90, we could very well bundle the Afghans for 100 odd, leaving us around 200 to chase which is still a massive target, but chaseable. At least in theory.
Of course I also thought we'd chase 320 against Zimbabwe in Sylhet last year. :D
But man, Mominul and Mosaddek seem to be batting on a totally different pitch than the rest of the BD batters.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
Tamim seems to have cracked after consistent criticism during the World Cup due to his batting failures. He is most likely training with Wahidul Gani (a local coach who is the guru of players like Mohammad Ashraful, Tamim Iqbal, Shakib al Hasan, and most likely many others). Whenever anyone has a prolonged patch of poor form, they always go and talk to WG. IDK, why the BCB never hires him in any official capacity, but he always seems to bring out the best after players have a chat with him. From what the players say, Gani seems to be a technical genius.
Back to the match...this game is why I've been ranting for the past few years about the need to have Mominul and Mosaddek form the core of our next generation Test batting. This is a pretty decent AFG spin attack, yet those two guys have batted very solidly. Mominul got a bit carried away with is counter-attack otherwise he'd still be at the crease.
We're down 150 as of now. With one set specialist batsman, and 2 lower order guys who can hold a bat, we really should get the deficit down to double digits. Then every 5 runs we score is a bonus. If the pitch is playing tricks, we could well bowl Afghanistan out for 150 or less, giving us 250 or fewer to chase. Unlikely at this stage, but the fans must believe!
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
Exceptional result for the Afghans. Really did not expect them to have the batting ability to win Test matches.
Blame game has started in Bangladesh. BCB chief has called to question the strategies and gameplan of an all spin attack, stated he doesn't want or think Soumya, Liton, or Sabbir are Test players (I agree but would add Mithun as the most unworthy of a spot - thank god he didn't play this game).
Shakib meanwhile has:
- blamed the pitch (team with 19 years experience blaming the pitch against a team thats only played 2 games, lol)
- said he doesn't want to be the captain (fair enough, his captaincy was always mediocre except for his individual performance).
The BCB needs to answer 3 main questions:
1) What steps will they take to strengthen domestic cricket? Just before this tour, the A team was beaten by Afghanistan A...so this Test loss to Afghanistan was no fluke.
2) How will they develop whatever fast bowling talent they have? No one expects them to create fast bowling talent, but there are bowlers who can swing the ball (Jayed), bowl at 140 clicks (Ebadat, Taskin, Fizz)...how are the expecting them to improve without having any overs to bowl?
3) Are they taking any steps to develop wrist spinners? With doosra's effectively banned, finger spinners have a limited role to play unless you are insanely accurate (eg Jadeja).
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
The West Indies play a test against them when they tour India later this year. The Afghans must be specials considering the way the Windies batted on last years Indian/Bangladesh tour & the way they were dusted by India on their own decks recently.
Also shows the ICC Test championship is wrong, either Afghanistan, Zimbabwe & Ireland should have been included or Bangladesh should have been left out also, they’ve now lost at home to Zimbabwe & Afghanistan inside the last 12 months.
The original plan was to leave out Bangladesh, Windies, and Sri Lanka (ie top 6 only) but those smaller 3 boards opposed the plan. Sri Lanka whitewashed Australia 3-0, BD drew a series in Sri Lanka, and WI won Tests in England and UAE.
If the Afghans get another big scalp, which they will if they play Windies or South Africa on a turning wicket, they might get added to the WTC.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
There is only one way Bangladesh can successfully spin this Test loss as an anomaly. They have to push India hard in at least one of the Tests in November. And by hard I mean one of the following:
- win the game (not happening in all likelhood)
- draw the game (10% chance)
The real marker will be if all 4 results are roughly equally likely after day 3. Or take the game past tea on day 5.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
Just saw a short video podcast about this result, it it made some goods points, which I will summarize here:
1) The defeat of a team with 20 years of Test experience by one with 2 matches experience was the litmus test of BD cricket's progress.
2) The blame rests with 3 groups of people: the BCB, the players, and the fans. The BCB's management is always short sighted, the players' execution was poor, and the fans' unrelenting adulation means that neither the BCB nor the players have to change anything.
3) Yes, Bangladesh has beaten teams like Australia and England, but if you play for 20 years, you will get a few fluke wins here and there.
I don't necessarily agree with everything that was said, but its an important discussion to have if BD cricket wants to avoid such things in the future.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
Afghans reach 77-3 at lunch. The first 20 overs only netted less than 40 runs, but the Afghans coming on now on what is a fairly flat pitch. The odd ball is turrning sharply. Afghans have thrown 2 of the 3 wickets to fall away.
For BD, losing the toss negates most if not all of the skill/experience advantage they would have had. Its a good challenge but if this game goes to day 4 or 5, it may be damn near impossible to chase anything over 200.
Absolutely imperative for BD to restrict Afghanistan to under 300 and ideally not much more than 200-225.
Really top class knock from Rahmat. Again a soft dismissal. Bangladesh will breathe easier knowing they've dismissed the danger man.
Looks like the hack Asghar is actually well suited to the longest format.
And just as I say that...double strike by youngster Nayeem as Nabi is bowled for a duck!!!
Disappointing in the sense that Nabi is Afghanistan's second best batsman and its ridiculous for him to be batting at #6. Along with Rahmat, Nabi is a very likeable personality.
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.
Afghanistan in firm control at 271-5 after day 1. Even if Bangladesh can bundle them out for around 350...they will be batting last on a pitch that will almost surely become a minefield.
Even after restricting Zimbabwe to under 300 in Sylhet, Bangladesh still lost by a massive margin of 150 runs. So, BD boys have a real challenge up their sleeves.
Test cricket is the ultimate cricket!!!
Bangladesh cricket fanatic, observer of all others.