But one should give Shakib credit for thinking positive, and getting his team to lift.  There were many very good individual performance from Bangladeshi players.  The bowling of Shahadat Hossain and himself in the first Test, the batting of Mohamadullah, Mushfiqur, Tamim, and Junaid were plus points.  Shakib’s brave, though often tactically naïve captaincy was also a plus point. 

The Bangladeshi team definitely lifted mightily to take on the best Test side in the world, and to their credit they avoided innings defeats, which were common in the past, in both matches.  They even put India under pressure for short periods of time in both matches, on the first morning in Chittagong and on the fourth morning in Mirpur.  But overall, they still lack the consistency and class to really take on the big boys.  And when Zaheer Khan did a reprise of his bowling in England a few summers ago, using the crease to create unique angles bamboozling the Bangladeshi batsmen, India wrapped up proceedings in a hurry. 

Nevertheless one thing is clear, Bangladesh are an attractive side, with individual players who are good to watch.  So the BCCI has no excuse not to invite them over for a Test series IN India soon.  It is indeed scandalous that Bangladesh have never played a single Test in India, their closest neighbor, though they have played Tests all around the world.

From the Indian perspective, the series went according to plan, and it was a nice warm up for the much more challenging series coming up, against the South Africans.  The Indians did suffer a few injury scares, including injuries to Laxman, Sreesanth, Dravid and Yuvraj.  Of these, the injuries to Dravid and Laxman appear to be such that they will be ready to play in the first Test against South Africa in what is essentially the World Championship of Test Cricket.  While the injuries to Yuvraj and Sreesanth will not be that crucial, as both positions have several in-form candidates ready to step into the role. 

It is truly a pity that the BCCI was only able to schedule two Tests for this series.  A minimum of three and an ideal of four or five matches should have been allocated to this marquee match-up.  It could have been a huge boost for  Test cricket at a time when that version of the game needs all the boosting it can get.

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