Last Updated on 10 years by Charbel Coorey

For the second time in two Test matches, Bangladesh have surrendered meekly after putting up some sort of fight towards the back end of the match. In the first Test, a 130 run partnership between captain Mushfiqur Rahim & Mahmudullah gave Bangladesh hope of salvaging arguably the best draw in their history. In this Test, Tamim Iqbal & Mominul Haque put together a 110 run partnership which gave the Bangladesh 2nd innings so much promise. When I was able to watch parts of the fourth day (early morning Sydney time), all I heard was West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin claiming that “one wicket will bring two or three, it’s happened before.” This time, one wicket brought eight as Bangladesh went from 158/2 to 192 all out. At the moment, being a Bangladesh fan is a tough ask. For the West Indies, there are positives to take out from their 500th Test thanks to some promising performances from some of their players ahead of tougher asks against India & South Africa.

Also for the second time in the series, Bangladesh decided to bowl first after winning the toss. This time, the decision made more sense as there was assistance for the seamers and Bangladesh picked three seamers who I thought did pretty well throughout the match after such a disappointing first session. Bangladesh either bowled too wide or down the leg side too often which allowed the West Indies openers to settle. Kraigg Brathwaite and Leon Johnson (on debut) would have both been disappointed to get out in the 60s with the opportunity for triple figures looming. From there, Bangladesh kept chipping away well with the ball, leaving the West Indies 269/7 on day 2, eventually bowling them out for 380, again hurt by Shivnarine Chanderpaul who was again not out after reaching a 50+ score. It could have been better for Bangladesh, with Nasir Hossain dropping a catch in the slips off Chanderpaul’s edge on the first day. However, it turned out to be the least of Bangladesh’s problems by the time day two was complete. The West Indians, led by Kemar Roach who made clear of his goal of reaching no.1 in the Test ranking, were ruthless and tore through the Bangladesh line up, with the Bangladeshis 104/7 at the close of play. A full length with swing with the occasional short ball to keep the batsmen honest was a super strategy and it was executed perfectly. Sure, this strategy will require more patience against India & South Africa, but seeing the West Indies bowl with wicket taking intent is good to see. Bowling coach and legend Curtly Ambrose is making his mark on Roach, Taylor & Gabriel. Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for 161, which was then followed by another Shivnarine Chanderpaul 100 (again unbeaten) with the Windies declaring at 269/4, leaving Bangladesh with an improbable 489 to chase for victory.

While I hope that the West Indies do well in Tests in the near future, it hurts to see Bangladesh show so little appetite to fight it out in the middle. I can’t remember seeing a worse Test series by Bangladesh since 2008. In every Test series Bangladesh have played since 2008, they showed much better signs than what they showed in this series. The main problem with the Bangladesh batsmen is that they don’t adjust their approach to match the conditions. You simply can’t think that you are batting on a flat Dhaka or Chittagong pitch when in fact you are encountering swing and movement in St Lucia. Only Tamim Iqbal (who again failed to push on with starts in this Test) and Mahmudullah held a good account of themselves in the 1st innings. The batting is just too loose which gives the bowler confidence knowing that a wicket could just be around the corner. This was also the case in the 2nd innings, bundled out for 192 after sitting pretty at 158/2. Tamim & Mominul both registered half centuries but that’s as good as it got for Bangladesh. Suliemann Benn was accurate and miserly again, and Bangladesh lost patience, handing him his sixth five wicket haul. How he goes in India will be interesting.

So there you have it, the West Indies take the series 2-0 and will be encouraged by the performances by the likes of Kraigg Brathwaite, Leon Johnson, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Shannon Gabriel, Jerome Taylor, Suliemann Benn & Kemar Roach. If they go in to the India series with belief, who’s to say they can’t cause India problems? India’s Test woes are for the world to see. However, a 2-0 series win here doesn’t really depict what this West Indian side can truly achieve and while you have to beat who is in front of you, Bangladesh were pretty poor right throughout. This is evident in the fact that the West Indians dropped quite a few catches this series but weren’t made to pay. Drop catches in India & South Africa and you will pay the price. For Bangladesh, their next assignment is a 3 match home series to Zimbabwe. Bangladesh will be favourites with the return of Shakib Al Hasan (and potentially Sohag Gazi) but on current form, Zimbabwe can definitely believe that they can go to Bangladesh and win the series. If Bangladesh lose a Test series at home to Zimbabwe, even their own passionate fans may begin to really doubt whether they belong at Test level. All to play for.