For when an assessment is done on Test mentality, Bangladesh were already on the backfoot by having picked eight batters in the playing eleven. That meant they went in with just a lone pacer in Hasan Mahmud. Following the Test win in Mount Maunganui, and in the latter period, discussions have gone on about providing more opportunities to pacers.
When the pace unit appears to be thriving, and its merits have been proven in away Tests — the latest feat in Pakistan where pace trio picked up all 10 wickets in Rawalpindi — Bangladesh went backwards.
The paradox being that a shaky batting unit meant more batters were preferred. Since Mirpur always has something for spinners, it was a pacer that was replaced as Jaker Ali Anik made his debut.
But no Test team takes that counterintuitive approach. All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan’s absence saw team management revert to kind.
But Kagiso Rabada and Wiaan Mulder showed early on that the wicket had zip and seam movement to offer to pacers. Rabada’s delivery first-up should have warned Bangladesh — a short of length delivery that exploded off the surface, opener Mahmudul Hasan just about getting out of the way of a scorcher.
Mulder did the early damage with three quick wickets and Rabada bagged three too as six wickets fell to pace. Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto had suggested a day before that it was a traditional Mirpur track, but the bounce did not verify such a claim.
