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An irreversible decline?

Sakeb Subhan
**Since the beginning of the South Africa tour, Bangladesh have folded for sub-150 scores on seven occasions in six Tests.**
Talk of golden generations may be quite familiar for sport followers in July of 2018. Belgium's golden gen-— eration lost a golden opportu-
nity to win a World Cup in Russia recently. Much closer to home, as the football frenzy fades, cricket fans are faced with what must now be seen as the irreversible decline of Bangladesh cricket's golden generation.
There is a certain romanticism associated with golden eras, and especially the protagonists who gild performances that will go down in folklore. But such romanticism may be out of place for Bangladesh cricket, as the golden era has been relative and not absolute. From a team learning the ropes of international cricket, Bangladesh graduated to being potential world beaters at home between the quarterfinal run in the 2015 World Cup and the drawn home series against Australia in August-September 2017.
Since that Australia series, there has been the wall-to-wall disaster of a South Africa tour, an ODI final loss at home to Sri Lanka, a Test and T20I series loss against the same
opponents, a T20I whitewash by Afghanistan and the recent abject surrender in the West Indies.
During their middling peak, Bangladesh solidified a quality core of Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (only available for GDIs now), Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad. It seemed that these five cricketers - three batsmen, the country's greatest all-rounder and its best seamer - would set examples that lesser and younger cricketers could follow in order to continue a tradition of improved performances. That is no longer true.
The most alarming aspect of this recent slew of debacles is that whereas once the
core members stood tall with lone hands in bad performances, this time they are at the centre of the debacles. That is a bleak sign indeed because, with Mominul Haque's continued decline, there seems to be no one on the horizon who can continue the good work that the seniors have done in the past.
In the West Indies, in a Test series that started with Bangladesh ranked eighth and their once-mighty opponents ninth, the Tigers succumbed to losses by an innings and 219 runs and by 166 runs. Given that Mashrafe has not been part of the longer version setup since 2009, the Big Four of Bangladesh Test cricket were most culpable in failing to provide the leadership that junior cricketers -- who because of the lower domestic standards often have to learn the game from senior pros at the highest level — could have benefited from.
Shakib plays the part of the aloof captain who cannot be bothered to lead by example with fighting performances that were once his forte. Tamim survives scrutiny to an extent because his dismissals have had more to do with his technique, once thought to be solid and organised, than his temperament. But that the technique and judgement of off stump of the team's best batsman is now repeatedly exposed tells a grim tale of its own.
Mushfiqur, hitherto the technidan-par-excellence of the Bangladesh team, cannot keep his bat and pad together to save his life, no matter how many hours he religiously practises - and he has been guilty of temperamental short circuits too. Mahmudullah has proven, for all the calm he brings to the dressing room and during his rare innings of over 50 and less than 100, that his good fortune to still be playing Test cricket rivals that of Mohammad Ashraful's in days gone by. It is an embarrassment that although his only Test century came seven years ago, he remains a fixture in the middle order.
The Big Four have doubtless given Bangladesh great innings and great moments over their careers. But when it comes to leaving lasting legacies, their career stats tell a different tale - in a bat-dominated era Mushfiqur and Tamim average in the mid-thirties while Mahmudullah's falls short of 30. Only Shakib can be said to have had an above-average career in Test cricket if they were to all stop playing now. Even then, he would likely be remembered as a gifted player who was unable to rein in his instincts for the greater good of the team - in other words, a good player but not a leader.
As they embarked on the tour of South Africa last September on the heels of a
drawn home series against Australia, the stage was set for them to go upwards and onwards. By the end of the first Test when they were shot out for 90 in the second innings, then skipper Mushfiqur struggled to remember when last they were all out for less than 100.
In fact, they had not been out for less than 150 since April 2013 against Zimbabwe in Harare. Since the beginning of the South Africa tour, they have folded for sub-150 scores on seven occasions in six Tests. Two of those scores came at home against Sri Lanka. Three have come against West Indies, including the 43 all out in the tour-opening Test in Antigua. All of those frequent debacles can be put down to the seniors' inability to buckle down and tough it out on pitches that did not allow for the release shots that they are so fond of. West Indies' Kraigg Brathwaite, someone who may not boast the wealth of talent of the Big Four, showed in each Test how to let patience lead the way.
By the end of the car crash of a tour in South Africa Shakib, then just the T20I captain, said that they would have to look at strengthening mental fitness. It seemed that he was talking about the whole team. For now, himself and his three cohorts would do.