The Hindu : Sport : A two-Test series achieves little

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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A two-Test series achieves little

Bangladesh needs to play more Test cricket to become a stronger cricketing nation, writes W.V. RAMAN

W. V. RAMAN

The loss of an entire day's play robbed Team India's chances of victory and though the Indians tried to continuously play the catch up game, the draw was inevitable. The hosts will not have any complaints as they were lagging behind right through the game.

The scheduling of matches need to be looked into with more earnestness in the future as a series of two Tests hardly gives a chance for either side to achieve anything. With the first Test ending in a draw, it will be a case of sudden death with just one solitary game remaining in the series.

Of course, the Indians still have a chance of winning a series abroad, but the administrators have to ensure that any Test series has a minimum of three Tests for it to create any interest at all.

More Test cricket

Moreover, Bangladesh needs to play more Test cricket to become a stronger cricketing nation and the BCB should ensure that their side gets a more than decent dose of Test cricket. They cannot be resting on the few triumphs in the one-dayers and now is the time for the young Bangladesh side to play more of Test cricket.

Be that as it may, the Chittagong Test will be remembered by Mortaza for a long time as he saved his team from blushes with a timely courageous knock apart from bowling his heart out under trying conditions.

The pitch was on the slower side and with the humidity making life difficult, he had to dig deep and keep himself going. Dinesh Karthik had a good game as well but here again I am not sure if playing him as a batsman is the right step. He has acquitted himself well on the field but the fact that he can keep should not be forgotten.

Laxman's omission

His two-dimensional abilities would allow the captain to play the five bowlers, which he did, but to have both Karthik and Dhoni in the side at the expense of V.V.S. Laxman was a riddle that will take some solving. The fact that Laxman is picked only for Test cricket and that coupled with Dhoni's ordinary keeping in the one-dayers should have tilted the balance in the Hyderabadi's favour.

The ploy of playing five bowlers was the right option and Kumble's ailment lends extra support to the decision. V.R.V. Singh and R.P. Singh made good use of the opportunity by picking up wickets and this augurs well for the future.

The Indians had to do something to give themselves an outside chance which they did by declaring but the hosts negotiated the Indian attack without too many problems. Team India will need to be a step ahead in the next Test at Dhaka and the onus is on them to win the series.

Key man

The pitch will be more or less similar to the one at Chittagong which means that the bowlers have to work harder to dismiss the opponents twice. Anil Kumble will hold the key and the Indians will be hoping that he gets fit for the Test. He will not allow the lower order batsmen to flourish and that is one quality that the younger bowlers like R.P. Singh and V.R.V. Singh need to develop.

Zaheer Khan will also have to be at his best if the Indians are to create any pressure on Bangladesh. The Bangladesh top order has the ability but there is that streak of brittleness that can be their undoing.

It remains to be seen if the Indians can exploit the lack of temperament in the Bangladesh batting line up. Dravid and his men would give anything to make the rains stay away in the next few days, as they need time to complete the job. There is nothing more frustrating than having to sit in the dressing room and watch the wet weather play spoilsport.

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