A Test status of shame
Bangladesh have played 54 Tests away from home since their inception into Test cricket and have lost 47 of them, drawn three and won just four.
Bangladesh playing a Test away from home and not losing by an innings? Nope.
That's been the norm for the past 19 years since the Tigers were brought into the Test elite.
While the Test status was something to brag about and be excited about for fans, it has not seen the team show enough improvement on the field.
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The recent trends have shown Bangladesh doing better in the shorter formats of the game by in Tests, especially in the fast bowling department, a lot is left to be desired.
In the last three away series' Bangladesh have lost games by an innings.
That was the case against South Africa in 2017, West Indies in 2018 and New Zealand earlier this year.
Even at home, Bangladesh have suffered defeats against lower-ranked Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.
Some have questioned the mentality of the players and wondered if they really want to represent the national team in the longest format of the game.
In fact, Bangladesh have played 54 Tests away from home since their inception into Test cricket and have lost 47 of them, drawn three and won just four.
What's even more embarrassing is that the team has lost 27 Tests by an innings among those 47 defeats.
The last win away from home came two years ago against Sri Lanka in 2017, Bangladesh's 100th Test.
But from there, the downward spiral has continued.
A lot of it can be contributed to the bowling not having a proper leader and the pace attack never finding a fixed set of bowlers.
Shakib Al Hasan in 2017 wanted a six-month break from Tests, just ahead of the tour of South Africa and that was one of the pivotal moments for the Test team to lose its track.
Fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman has been a shadow of his former self in recent times and was subsequently dropped from the Test side for the first Test against India.
Abu Jayed Rahi has been the standout pace bowler in Tests at recent times but he has been in dire need of a pace bowling partner and that was once again evident in the last Test.
To put into perspective just how big the margin of defeat against the hosts India was let's consider the fact that their captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma scored a total of six runs.
Their fielders dropped five catches and missed numerous run-out opportunities when Bangladesh were batting.
And they only lost six wickets to put on all the runs required to defeat Bangladesh by the margin of an innings and 130 runs.
The captain Mominul Haque and coach Russell Domingo have spoken about structural change, but after 19 years of playing Test cricket, should structural change finally be a concern?
Should it not have happened before Bangladesh toured the number one Test nation in their first ever tour there?
A lot more than structural change is required to try and redeem Bangladesh cricket from the mess they are in at the moment and if things don't improve fast, calls for their Test status to be stripped won't be far off.
