Historic win slips through spurned chances

In the end, nothing special happened. Not a miracle. Not a magical morning in Mirpur. Not yet another David vs Goliath story in the fabled ground in Dhaka, not another historic Test win for Bangladesh.

In the end, it was all doom and gloom for Bangladesh, yet another win slipping away from their hands despite the ostentations being in hindsight.

As clichéd as it sounds, catches do win and lose matches, and the chances let go by Bangladesh turned out to be the deciding factor in the second Test of their two-match Test series against India as they succumbed to an agonising defeat of three wickets.

Bangladesh had plucked seven Indian wickets with the visitors yet 71 runs away, but Ravichandran Ashwin, the eventual player of the match, got a life when he was just on one, and then took all the required runs in an unbeaten stand with Shreyas Iyer to ensure that India did a clean-sweep in the longer format after flailing in the One-Day Internationals.

The Tigers had managed to knick off four wickets in the final session of the third day as India needed 100 runs with six wickets in hand on the fourth day, which turned into the ultimate day.

On the fourth day morning, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan took no time to send nightwatchman Jaydev Unadkat (13) back as he trapped the fast bowler LBW in the second over of the day.

His dismissal brought Rishabh Pant, who was considered to be the biggest thorn in between a win and Bangladesh, to the crease.

But then, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, adding to his three wickets from the previous day, dismissed Pant (9) and the well-set Axar Patel in quick succession to pick up his ninth five-wicket haul in Test cricket, and India were reduced to 74-7.

Miraz almost had his sixth when Ashwin gloved one to Mominul Haque at short leg, but the fielder, who took an excellent catch to dismiss Virat Kohli just on the previous evening, failed to grasp the regulation chance, and that allowed Ashwin and Iyer to build as the surface got better for batting with time.

That was in line with Bangladesh’s dire display of fielding throughout the series, and especially this Test, where the chances ended up being the determiner of the outcome.

While Mominul’s spilt chance seems like the deciding factor after the result, the needle of questions could easily turn to Nurul Hasan Sohan, who failed to stump Iyer in the first innings when he was on 21, and the batter ended up getting 86 and putting together a 159-run stand with Pant that was the foundation and backbone of their sum of 314 and lead of 87.

Not just that, Mushfiqur Rahim had also misjudged the flight of a shot from Pant and parried the ball over the cushions instead of holding on when the wicketkeeper-batter was on 51, and he went on to score 93.

Expectedly, Shakib was left ruing the opportunities they had and let go.

“It is disappointing. Because these misses are creating big differences. If these did not happen, maybe the score would have been 250 instead of 314 (in the first innings). There were definitely chances in the second innings. It is a bit disappointing because the other teams would not have missed the chances that we miss,” the Bangladesh captain said in a press conference after the second Test ended on Sunday.

He also tried to explain why the fielding was not up to the standard with the red ball, “(These errors happen) Maybe because of a lack of concentration or lack of fitness or something else. We have to focus on how we can concentrate for longer periods of time and not do mistakes. I’m pretty sure that other teams would not give as many opportunities as we did. We miss regulation opportunities.

“These things are making a difference. Our bowlers have to create 13-14 opportunities to take 10 wickets, others maybe do it with nine.”

Shakib also delivered deserved praise to the Indian duo of Ashwin and Iyer who took them over the line.

“I think Ashwin and Iyer batted really well. The wicket was not easy at all for batting. But the way they batted, you must give them credit. We tried from all ends but fell short,” he said.

But in the end, Bangladesh had a leash on the Indians, and Shakib’s counterpart KL Rahul accepted that they were nervy after the seventh wicket fell.

“We were in a bit of trouble and there was a bit of pressure and nervousness in the dressing room. Really happy that Ashwin and Shreyas (Iyer) got that partnership that got us the victory,” he said.

Bangladesh had started the year with their historic win over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui, their first-ever in the Tasman country, and were very close to ending the year on a high too.

In between, the captaincy switched from Mominul to Shakib, and there were other changes in the country’s cricketing fraternity. But all probably could have been well if it ended well.