Bangladesh are indeed ordinary

India were expected to thrash Bangladesh, and when the winning margins are 100+ runs and 10 wickets, it is fair to say Bangladesh were thrashed. Bangladesh had fun for at most 1.5 days - day 1 of the first test and around 50 overs on day 3 of the second test.

There was a lot written about Sehwag's comment before the first test on Bangladesh being an 'ordinary' side. Sehwag was perhaps being politically uncorrect, saying such a thing in Bangladesh, especially when the BCCI had played a huge role in Bangladesh getting test status.

Yet, the facts are that barring a series win against a West Indies 'B' team, they had achieved zilch in nearly a decade of test cricket. There have been a few individual achievements (e.g. Aminul Islam in their first ever test, Ashraful v India in 2004, Shahriar Nafees v Australia in 2006, Shakib forming the 'SLA Atlas' club along with Vettori and occasional bursts from Mortaza).

They did run Pakistan and Australia close. They do indicate that they can be occasionally competitive. However, the reality is that as of the start of this series, they hadn't made 300 in the first innings of a test since April 2006, which was also the last time one of the batsmen scored a first-innings century.

The malaise hasn't just been with the batting. On an average, opponents can expect that one of their top 7 batsmen will score a first innings 100 every time they face Bangladesh.

There was absolutely no need for Sehwag to be politically correct. I'll repeat what I wrote nearly 6.5 years ago.

I wonder why captains are nowadays so politically correct. I'm not saying the captain should do a Richie Richardson and claim that the visiting Aussies have been the worst side to play West Indies in the last 20 years after losing the series. Tony Greig's attempt to make WI "grovel" backfired spectacularly. But why does Steve Waugh not say Australia is going to crush Bangladesh or Zimbabwe?

On a parting note, why on earth did the proceedings break for lunch with Bangladesh on the verge of defeat at 312/9? Why can't the playing conditions be changed to allow captains to opt for extra time regardless of whether it is close of play or not?

Currently, under clause 16.2 of the test match playing conditions, the umpires can extend play by 30 minutes at the end the day (except the last day) if either captain puts in the application in triplicate along with a photocopy of their last 5 years income tax payment statements and if the umpires believe that the extension could end the ordeal for everyone.

Statistical trivia: This is only the 7th time that a side has reached the target in less than 3 balls.

Labels: bangladesh, india, lunch, playing conditions, rules