India A vs Bangladesh: For Mushfiqur Rahim and Co it is almost home

They, at least, came out better than Pakistan, who had toured New Zealand a few months earlier. Whereas the highest total Pakistan could post was 230, in their last innings of the tour, Bangladesh declared their first innings at 595/8 in Wellington, before they collapsed dramatically in the second innings. Even in the second Test, on a spicier surface in Christchurch, they held themselves for much of the opening day. They were, at one stage, 165 for 2, before they plummeted to 289. So was the pervading thread in the abbreviated versions, where they were not overwhelmed but rather out-gunned by a side far more resourceful in their own conditions.

They fared better than Sri Lanka as well, who like Pakistan and Bangladesh had endured a 2-0 defeat. But none of Sri Lanka’s or Pakistan’s batsmen had aggregated more than 50, but as many as three Bangladeshis did manage 50-plus aggregates (Mushfiqur Rahim had a slightly flattering 172, Shakib Al Hasan 71 and Soumya Sarkar 61). Maybe, with a more rounded pace-bowling attack or a better spinner in their ranks, they could have stretched New Zealand further, but what they demonstrated in New Zealand was that their batsmen can’t be taken for granted. Whereas in the past they have mostly relied on one, or at best a couple of batsmen to shepherd them, they have a wider canvas of batsmen at their disposal.

But a still-plaguing concern is their susceptibility to collapse on any given day, especially the top-order. On Sunday, they lost five wickets for 113 runs. It’s even more a disturbing feeling when the perpetrators of it weren’t Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja, or even Mohammed Shami or Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but someone in the periphery of national selection as Rajasthan’s left-arm seamer Aniket Choudhary on a benign surface — like appetizers before tongue-scorching meals, the surfaces for practice games tend to be bland. Three of their top-six were his victims.

Their top-scorer, again, was their doughty little skipper, Rahim (58), who had missed the second Test in New Zealand due to an injury. While he isn’t the most attractive batsman around, or the most exciting or technically impregnable, he is plucky and has the knack of churning out valuable knocks in crisis. Moreover, he is one of their most dexterous players of spin, even on terrible tracks, a reputation that would be put to optimal test by Ashwin and Jadeja in the coming days.

The only other half-centurion of the day was Sarkar, whose meagre first-class average of 28.16 doesn’t quite reflect his potential.He made a brisk 52 off 73 balls, a stroke-laden knock. But what makes him an exciting talent to look forward to was his 86 in Christchurch, wherein he authoritatively countered the swing, seam and cunning of Trent Boult and Tim Southee. The 23-year-old didn’t pull his strokes back, but counter-attacked them with a wispy nonchalance of his age. He provides the top-order with the fizz they require at the top.

The tourist, though, would be bothered about the form of their openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes– both of them couldn’t find their bearings in New Zealand. The same, to a degree, can be said of Mahmudullah, their hero in the 2015 World Cup, who hasn’t been amongst the runs of late. To eke out a favourable result against India at home—even a draw would fall into that category–they need all of their collective efforts. And quickly eschew their implosive traits.

Brief scores (Day One): Bangladesh 224/8 declared in 67 overs (Soumya Sarkar 52, Mushfiqur Rahim 58, Sabbir Rahman 33, Aniket Choudhary 4/26, Chama Milind 1/26, Shahbaz Nadeem 1/38, Kuldeep Yadav 1/32) versus India A 91/1 in 21 overs (Priyank Panchal batting 40, Shreyas Iyer batting 29m Subashis Roy 1/11) at Gymkhana Ground.