Bowled out for 54 in their warm-up game, can Bangladesh avoid Test match humiliation?

Darwin: Bangladesh will need to channel some of the unbridled aggression of their injured spearhead Nahid Rana if they wish to avoid Test match humiliation by Australia after being knocked over for 54 in their sole warm-up game.

Before he maddeningly tore a side in a series against Zimbabwe from which other members of the Test squad were rested, 23-year-old Rana was breathing fire ahead of Bangladesh’s first two Tests in Australia since 2003.

He was a key to their victory over Australia on home soil in a recent ODI series, notably getting into a confrontation with acting captain and Test squad member Josh Inglis that underlined his desire not to take a backward step.

“If someone shows me respect on the field, I will show them respect as a fellow professional,” Rana told this masthead before his injury. “It is a case of mutual appreciation for the job we are doing, and I understand that sometimes words will be exchanged.

“However, if I feel that the line has been crossed through words or actions on the field, I will try to return the favour using my strengths.

“Normally, if someone says something to me off the field, I would probably ignore it and walk away. But when I am inside the ground representing my country, it is a completely different story. I am not there to make friends.”

By contrast, the touring team was meekness personified in being rolled for just 54 by a Cricket Australia Invitational team, led by young South Australian left-armer Campbell Thompson, who scooped 8-25 with accurate lines and a hint of swing.

“To clean it up this morning, I had a clear process – just try to use the new ball, swing it and hit the stumps – and I was lucky enough to get a few wickets,” Thompson said after his haul.

“The length we had to bowl in the second innings was probably a bit shorter than in the first innings – so just dragging it back a bit, hitting the top of the stumps, and clear processes was the main goal.

“I feel like I’m a new-ball bowler, so I’m just trying to swing the ball and hit the stumps, and I got lucky this time.”

While the swift end to the game was great for Thompson and his teammates, it augured badly for this week’s first of two Tests between Bangladesh and Australia’s heavy duty team, fronted by Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and company.

Before the 2003 series, the late David Hookes set tongues wagging by suggesting that the team led by Steve Waugh should try to beat the visitors in a single day’s play.

“Steve Waugh should send them in to bat, bowl them out before lunch, bat until tea and declare, then send them back in and roll them again before stumps,” Hookes had said. “It could be all over and done within a day.

“The reality is that Bangladesh doesn’t deserve to be in Test cricket, and they certainly shouldn’t be given any favours out on the field. If the Australian team is being true to the Test cap, their aim will be go to out there and annihilate Bangladesh.”

As it turned out, Bangladesh lost both those Tests by an innings, but the games in Darwin and Cairns lasted for three and four days respectively.

Since then, Bangladesh have made great strides as a cricket nation, in no small part due to the aid of numerous Australian coaches, from Jamie Siddons and Shane Jurgensen to Shaun Tait.

Their ODI series victory over Australia was notable for taking place on a trip of excellent pitches, which had good pace and bounce for the quicks, while good stroke play was rewarded.

But those heady moments looked a long way away on Saturday as Thompson ran through a timid touring side – about as far away as Rana, resting up back home after an injury that has robbed the series of its most likely fireworks.

Also absent for Bangladesh is Mustafizur Rahman, who now concentrates on white-ball formats and, if not for injury, would be playing in the Hundred in the UK. It will now be up to the likes of Taskin Ahmed to ask questions of Australia’s batting.

“He is the quiet type in the dressing room, but the way he goes about his business, his professionalism, his intelligence and his ability to execute his skills relentlessly year after year is fascinating and extraordinary,” Rana said of the man known as “The Fizz”.

“Apart from the Fizz, I talk to my seniors in the fast-bowling department all the time. They had started the pace revolution for Bangladesh before I came in … we are like a band of brothers.”

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