Test temperament in question as Bangladesh batters surrender tamely in Chattogram Test

Bangladesh were all but out of the contest when Sri Lanka gave them a target of 511 to win the Chattogram Test. They had to survive  a little more than five sessions to avoid defeat and so, survival was the order of the day.

The Bangladesh batters tried to do so, but most of them sooner or later lost their concentration and threw away their wickets. The lack of temperament was evident once again when given a tough task and some of the shots the batters played were inexplicable. 

At 268-7, the home side still requires 243 to win with only three wickets in hand and no specialist batter in the middle. Mehidy Hasan Miraz is unbeaten on 44 and Taijul Islam on 10.

For a team that crossed the 200-run mark for the first time in the series, getting anywhere near the total seems improbable for Bangladesh. When the batters needed to show patience, they did not put enough value to their wickets. Given the way the batters were dismissed, it won't be wrong to question their Test temperament. 

All of the batters got starts but mostly played bad shots to get out. Apart from the unbeaten Taijul, all of them played 30 or more deliveries but only Mominul Haque struck a half-century. 

There was not much wrong with the wicket, admitted Mominul, who scored a counterattacking 50 off 56 balls. 

"I don't think I played aggressively," he told reporters at the end of play on Tuesday. "The wicket was better in the second innings. I tried to play my natural game. If I only block, it gives an opportunity to the bowlers. I didn't try to force the pace. I took risks according to my zones against spinners. If I skipped down the track against an off-break bowler, you could term it aggressive. I took calculative risks."

On that "better" wicket, the host batters failed to apply themselves. Mahmudul Hasan Joy misread the bounce of a slightly short delivery from left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya and missed the ball to get cleaned up. 

His opening partner Zakir Hasan pushed at a delivery outside off from left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando to edge the ball to slip. 

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto (20), a pale shadow of himself throughout the series, fell victim to a set-up by Lahiru Kumara. Kumara went short a few times and then got the ball to shape away and hit the top of off. 

Mominul scored at a fair clip but could have been more careful while going for an attacking option at the stroke of tea. The southpaw swept the ball that pitched outside off and the bounce led to his undoing.

Shakib Al Hasan looked good, so did Litton Das but their shot selections came under the scanner. Litton's act of madness in the Sylhet Test was heavily criticised and he played another questionable shot to lose his wicket to Lahiru Kumara. 

Shahadat Hossain, short of runs, misjudged a turning delivery from Kamindu Mendis and got trapped in front. 

A big defeat is inevitable for Bangladesh as Bangladesh don't have many wickets in hand and batting won't be easy on day five. 

"Batting is difficult here. It's most difficult to bat on day five. If we had lost four wickets [instead of seven], it would have been a different story. It's really tough to bat. It's tough to say I am hopeful," Mominul said.