[beshideshi]

It is not a secret that Bangladesh are still struggling with the longer version of the game. And it is a stark contrast to their limited overs performances in the recent past. However, how bad are Bangladesh doing? Specially when compared to the teams in the lower end of the test spectrum. Let's have a look.

Here are Bangladesh's stats over the past 4 years in tests.
Test played : 17
Won: 2
Drawn: 1
Lost: 14

In a glance, it looks quite horrendous. However, if we have a deeper look into the stats, we can see an interesting trend in the tests. Out of the lost tests, we failed to take the test till the 5th day in four occasions. That is quite an interesting figures, considering in the pre 2009 era we were a team that guaranteed an innings defeat. Also if you take into consideration that 6 of those test matches were against the no.1 ranked teams.

And if you look at cricket teams, they go from losing badly to losing to drawing to winning. I think Bangladesh have moved from 'losing badly' to 'losing' phase. And in all of the recent test matches, Bangladesh have shown fight and were in the game for large portions of the game. With more practice, more matches, I reckon Bangladesh can be a decent test side as well.

The criticism Bangladesh receives are often over the top. If anyone[ala Geofrey Boycott] actually follows the Bangladesh team, they would know the team is not too far from regularly drawing at home. For instance, if we performed like New Zealand are, everyone would be asking for our test status.

We still need to tweak the mentality a bit more, play longer innings and stay focused for longer periods. But I think we are on our way to become a decent test team. We will find out soon enough.