Bangladesh's young batsmen show promise

Shamsur's maiden international hundred in the second Test was Bangladesh's first by an opener other than Tamim Iqbal. It was a dominating innings as Shamsur took on the Sri Lanka bowlers after Bangladesh had lost an early wicket. His 232-run stand with Imrul Kayes paved the way for Bangladesh's recovery to a stage where batting was easier. His debut Test performance, 33 and 9, was perhaps down to nervousness.

Bangladesh had to survive the final day of the second Test to complete their first drawn game at home against Sri Lanka, and who better to lead the way than Mominul Haque. He was the calmest head in the field, assured in defense and cunning in his run-making. His unbeaten century was his third in his seven Test career. He also made a fifty in the first Test but showed a tendency to play too far from his body and go for the sweep far too early in the innings. But he is one batsman who will quickly learn from such mistakes.

Shakib's performances go unnoticed when Bangladesh lose, but he averaged 57.66 with the bat and was the highest wicket-taker in his team. He scored a fifty in the first innings of the first Test, but his bowling wasn't great - he conceded 159 to take three wickets. In the second Test, he got out scoring exactly 50, snared five wickets in the first innings, and shepherded Mominul to a century as Bangladesh snatched a draw.

Bangladesh's search for a settled batsman at No 3 may have come to a momentary end with Imrul's performance in the second Test. His maiden century in his first Test in two years helped Bangladesh immensely, and his confidence was visible. He attacked the bowlers whenever possible. However, he had fitness troubles, having hurt his groin and hamstring, and was too nervous in the nineties, getting dropped once and then caught off a no-ball.

The Bangladesh captain has had an ordinary series with the bat, but he was in the wrong end of a poor decision in the first innings in Dhaka, and a victim of a superb off-break from Dilruwan Perera in the second. In the second Test, Mushfiqur got injured when Sri Lanka batted, getting hit on the little finger of his left hand. He batted well in the first innings though, and fielded in the second despite the injury. His captaincy didn't see the best of times, and his decision to drop Robiul Islam in the second Test was questionable. So was his keeping in the first Test.

Gazi was hardly the same bowler who had ripped into New Zealand in the Chittagong Test back in October. During this series, he slipped back a few levels in his accuracy and guile. He bowled tightly in spells, but that wasn't going to threaten batsmen like Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. His planning against Angelo Mathews was good in the Dhaka Test, but in Chittagong, he just wasn't the bowler Mushfiqur had wanted in the game.

He got a snorter in the first Test and a bad decision in the second, but otherwise it was a quiet time for Bangladesh's most vivacious batsman. One would have expected him to put up a fight in the second innings of the first Test but that was not to be. Although the bad decision came at a crucial time in the second Test, his shot was also poor given the time of the day. Nasir, however, bowled well in the second Test and got the prized scalp of Sangakkara after the batsman had completed a triple-century.

Tamim was expected to light up Mirpur and Chittagong but he had his second-worst Test series since his debut in 2008. Tamim was out hooking in the first innings of the first Test and then he played a wild hoick in the second innings to put Bangladesh into more trouble. In the second Test, he got one that kept low in the first dig while in the second, he misread part-timer Kithuruwan Vithanage after making a solid start.

Al-Amin is the only Bangladesh quick to take wickets in this series, a reward for his increasing accuracy. But he has to be careful with his fitness. He was unfortunate to have so many catches dropped off him in the first Test, but he couldn't quite lead the attack in the Chittagong Test when he was the lone seamer.

Having returned to the Test team after nearly a year, Mahmudullah was expected to bat according to the situation at No 8 and bowl reasonably well. He did the latter in the second innings, but in his only batting opportunity, he threw his wicket away with a poor dab to the hands of silly mid-off early in the fourth day.

Bangladesh's hope was on him batting well at No 3 and securing the position, but he hardly made a step towards that, and a poor shot in the second innings of the Dhaka Test was probably what cost him his place in the second Test. He was trapped lbw, though there was some doubt, in the first innings, but in the second, he couldn't keep a steeping ball down, giving short-leg an easy catch.

He was unlucky to be dropped in the second Test, although he remained wicketless in his last two Tests. Robiul couldn't find swing with neither the new nor old ball, but he was accurate in most spells. He had a good contest against Mahela Jayawardene when the batsman was feeling slightly uncomfortable with his straighter deliveries. It was not enough to get a wicket, but it certainly didn't warrant getting dropped.

His Test-bowling average shot up from 78 to 83 after going wicketless in the first Test. He was duly dropped in the second Test, but apparently was in contention ahead of Robiul Islam. How that happened though, only the Bangladesh team management can explain.

Marks don't apply to Abdur Razzak as he only bowled four overs in the second Test before getting injured. He didn't take a wicket.