April 20, 2003

Was the ICC decision to make Bangladesh the 10th Test playing nation right or wrong? Considering their performance in the international arena so far, the answer is not difficult to find

A COMPETITIVE cricket match is a treat to watch and people cherish watching two evenly balanced teams going at each other. On the contrary, we have seen quite a few one-sided matches, in the recent past, which are neither competitive nor interesting to watch.

The Australian team underlined its supremacy in World cricket by successfully retaining their World Cup crown even without the services of star leg spinner Shane Warne, the extremely dangerous Jason Gillespie and their upcoming allrounder Shane Watson. The side from Down-Under put in an emphatic performance worth all the praise and at the same time exposed the fragility of other teams. The Australian performance makes it quite clear that there exists a huge gap between them and the rest of the cricketing lot.

Whereas the Australians have worked hard to take cricket to a new level, the presence of cricketing minnows Bangladesh in the Test arena has all but contributed to one-sided matches. Bangladesh have become the walloping boys of Test and One-Day cricket.

The record breaking Aussies have added milestone after milestone to their already envious cricket record. On the other hand, the Bangladeshi team has made it into the record books for all the wrong reasons. The 199 run defeat to India, in the opening match of the current One-Day tournmanet is another addition to the country’s woeful cricket record. It was India’s best win in terms of the margin of runs in a One-Dayer and the second worst result ever suffered by Bangladesh, second only to the mauling they got at the hands of Pakistan, three years ago.

Bangladesh was awarded teh Test status in the 2000/2001 season in lieu of the cricket teams miraculous win over Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup. Ever since Bangladesh’s entry into world cricket, the team has lost all but a few of its matches. The wins have come against the minnows with just the one win over Pakistan. ICC may put it that Bangladesh deservedly got the Test status, but neither did the Bangladeshi team prove its worth before the award of the Test status and neither did it after that. Some critics even question the ability of the Zimbabwean team, so the award of Test status to the Bangladeshi team has raised quite a lot of eyebrows.

Frankly speaking, the Zimbabwean team is not even good enough for Test cricket, so there was no need to grant Test status to Bangladesh. On the contrary, if a team was to be granted Test status, it should defiantely have been Kenya, not Bangladesh. Lets take a closer look at the records of Kenya and Bangladesh in all forms of cricket. They will provide a clear picture of facts as they stand and will go a long way in supporting the argument in Kenya’s favour.

Kenya has the edge in the overall ICC cricket record. The Kenyan team has played 38 matches as compared to Bangladesh’s 41 matches, chalking up 24 wins and biting the dust on 12 occasions giving them a success percentage of 66.67 per cent. On the other hand the Bangladeshi team has tasted success 26 times and has gone down 14 times giving them a success percentage of 65 per cent. The Bangladeshi’s lead the head to head record in the ICC trophy 3-1.

As in the ICC trophy records, the Kenyans enjoy an edge in the overall ODI record. Out of the 64 matches that the Kenyans have contested, they have won 12 and lost 50, which gives them a success percentage of 19.35 per cent.

At the same time, the Bangladeshi’s have played 68 One-Dayers winning a mere three and ending on the losing side on no less than 63 occasions. This gives them a deplorable success percentage of 4.41 per cent. Bangladesh has just one victory over a Test nation and that came against Pakistan four years ago. The other two victories have come against Test aspirant’s Kenya and Scotland.

Kenyans have defeated Test playing teams no less than 11 times. Their victories have come against India (twice), Sri Lanka, the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh a wallping six times. The other victory is against Canada at this year’s World Cup. A notable thing that comes up from this discussion is that Kenya leads Bangladesh head to head 6-1.

Bangladesh who won Test status ahead of Kenya have not won a single match since beating Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup held in England. This streak includes 33 matches without a win and comprises 31 defeats and two washouts both coming against the unfortunate West Indies, who have twice been deprived of victory. The latest washout resulted in the elimination of the West Indian team from the recently concluded World Cup in South Africa. This 33 match winless streak is by all means a World Record.

Kenya notched up its highest total 347-3, against Bangladesh. On the other hand, the highest total put up by Bangladesh is 272. The lowest scored by Kenya is 84, where as it is 76 for Bangladesh. The highest total conceded by Kenya is 398, whereas it is 315 for Bangladesh. The best ever bowling performance by Kenya has been against the West Indies when they skittled the Caribbean kings for 93 runs. The best performance for Bangladesh came against Pakistan, when they dismissed the green caps for 161 runs.

Throughout their One-Day history, the Kenyans have scored runs at an average of 22.7 runs per wicket at 4.12 runs to the over. They have conceded runs at an average of 39.8 runs at 5.01 runs to the over.

In contrast, Bangladesh have scored runs at an average of 19.1 runs per wicket at 3.75 runs to the over and have conceded runs at an average of 46.4 runs per wicket at 5.27 runs to the over.

The Bangladeshi’s have yet to win a Test match. They have lost 16 of the 17 Test matches that they have played. The team is by far the worst team in international cricket losing 11 of its 17 Test matches by more than an innings as well as registering losses by 9 wickets, 8 wickets (twice), 7 wickets and by a massive margin of 288 runs. It was able to draw a match against Zimbabwe when more than two days were lost due to rain. That has been their only Test match without defeat and that also with the help of Mother Nature.

The highest score conceded by the Bangladeshi’s in a Test match is 555, whereas the highest total that they have put up is 400. The least score conceded by Bangladesh in a Test Match is no fewer than 296. The team has scored at a deplorable average of 18.6 runs per wicket, where as they have conceded runs at a healthy average of 57.5 runs per wicket. All of this clearly points to the fact that Bangladesh were prematurely awarded the Test status.

Bangladesh’s sole cricketing achievement, their win over Pakistanin the 1999 World Cup, sparked wild jubilations that led to the Bangladeshi government declaring a National holiday the very next day. This type of reaction helped the country achieve Test status.

Kenyans, since bursting onto the International scene in the 1996 World Cup are known for their gutsy performances. They have defeated various Test nations on no less than 11 occasions. This in itself is a major achievement. Four of these twelve victories have come against three former World Champions namely the West Indies, India and Sri Lanka.

* This year, they made it to the semi-finals. Many term it the fairy tale run for the Kenyans.

* The Kenyan side includes cricketers like Steve Tikolo, Maurice Odumbe, Thomas Odoyo, Rajab Ali and Asif Karim.

All of the above mentioned records and facts clearly depict the Kenyan supremacy over Bangladesh. And yet, the ICC favoured Bangladesh over Kenya. There can be a number of reasons for this decision.

* Within the huge Bangladeshi population, there is a massive cricket following. The Test Status was awarded to the country keeping in view the public’s interest in cricket, which is far more than that in Kenya. The authorities made a decision to aid the growth of crickt in the country, regardless of the main parameter, “Merit”.

* Cricket decisions have a political dimension to them as well. There are a few blocs in cricket, such as the Asian bloc which comprises Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and now Bangladesh. Keeping in view the power element, the Asian bloc voted in favour of awarding the Test status to Bangladesh, in order to even out the spread of voting power.

* Bangladesh, former East Pakistan, had the required cricketing infrastructure as in the pre-1971 era, Test matches had been played here. This was perhaps another reason that prompted the ICC to grant Test Status to Bangladesh prematurely.

* Money and effort has been another determinant. It is easier to develop cricket in Bangladesh than in Kenya. This being so because a number of companies in Bangladesh are ready to sponsor cricket matches. Moreover, Bangladesh offers a chance for lucrative sponsorships and TV deals.

Keeping in view, Zimbabwe’s far from exciting Test perfomrnace so far, tehre was no need fo a tenth Test team. The game of cricket needs to be made more and more interesting, especially when people are fast losing interest in Test cricket.

However, considering that the ICC will not revoke Bangladesh’s Test status, it would not be fair if Kenya a team much better than Bangladesh was not granted Test status in the near future. Indeed, ICC’s double standards have been badly exposed.

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