Bangladesh's dismal batting slide

Bangladesh's recently concluded series against New Zealand offered some moments of cheer for the home team, but in the end the story was depressingly familiar: despite winning the first ODI they lost the series 1-2; in the Tests, a heartbreaking loss in Chittagong was followed by a limp performance in Mirpur, where they were almost embarrassed in what turned out to be a two-day Test.

It's been eight years since Bangladesh made their Test debut, and while they've had several results to celebrate in ODIs during this period, their performances in the longer version has largely been dire. Apart from their one victory against Zimbabwe, they've been involved in a couple of memorable contests, against Pakistan and Australia, but otherwise there have been few positives. The bowling has usually been more reliable than the batting, but in Chittagong it led the team down as New Zealand chased 317 down in the fourth innings.

Jamie Siddons took over as coach a year back, and what will worry him is the lack of improvement in the players, especially the batsmen. The table below illustrates the point: over the last two years Bangladesh have lost nine out of 11 Tests, which isn't unusual in itself, but the discouraging bit is the comprehensive margin of those defeats - six were by an innings (and four of those by a margin in excess of an innings and 150 runs). Bangladesh showed some improvement in the three years from 2004 to 2006, but in the last couple of years they've gone back to the early days. As the numbers below demonstrate, the batsmen average 19 per wicket, down from 23 in the period between 2004 and 2006, while the bowlers concede 52 runs per wicket.

You'd expect the slow pitches at home to favour the Bangladesh batsmen, but the numbers below indicate the difference is marginal - over the last two years their batting average at home is just two runs higher than their overall average during this period. The bowlers have done relatively better in the spinner-friendly conditions, reducing their average by more than six.

What will also cause concern for Siddons is the inability of the Bangladesh batsmen to occupy the crease for meaningful periods. Even worse, their ability to stay at the wicket has diminished over the last couple of years: in their first four years in Tests they lasted 42 balls per dismissal; that figure went up to more than 45 between 2004 and 2006, but since 2007 it has slipped to 39.28, which translates into six-and-a-half overs per wicket. This average means the team lasts around 65 overs per innings, hardly the kind of figures that will lead to victories, or even draws.

A look at the individual batsmen's numbers reveals that their two captains have been among the worst offenders during this period: for all the talent that he undoubtedly possesses, Mohammad Ashraful has batted, on average, seven overs per dismissal, while Habibul Bashar, the previous leader, lasted just 20 deliveries. Of the two who lasted more than 60 deliveries, one, Aftab Ahmed, has been banned for joining the ICL. Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Rajin Saleh have been reasonably sticky as well, but among the three only Shakib has converted time spent in the middle into runs on the board.

With a tough tour of South Africa coming up, Bangladesh desperately need to get their batting act together, especially the players at the top of the order. "If we are going to be successful in South Africa - hopefully we can be - we need to get our top four firing. If our top four players fail like that then we can not expect our Nos. 5, 6 and 7 to save us all the time. It won't happen." Those were the words of Siddons after the series against New Zealand, and he summed up the situation pretty accurately: since 2007, Bangladesh's top four average 18, and last 39 deliveries per dismissal. The opening partnership has done reasonably well, but the average partnership for the second wicket is 19.23, and it drops to a dismal 12.05 for the third wicket. (Click here for more details.)

The rescue act has often been done by the next three batsmen, with Shakib leading the way. The batsmen coming in at Nos. 5, 6 and 7 average a respectable 25.22, and last 20 more deliveries than the top four. The stats for the captain sum up the team's problems: in the ten innings that Ashraful has batted in the top four since 2007, he has scored 84 runs at an average of 8.40, with three ducks and a highest of 35. When he has pushed himself down the order, he has scored 329 runs in the same number of innings at a far healthier average of 36.55. On the bouncy pitches in South Africa, Siddons and the rest of the Bangladesh think tank would do well to consider moving their captain down the order. That might be one way to come out of the tour with a semblance of respectability.