Celebrating Bangladesh's 100th Test

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim (middle) and team-mates celebrate their victory over Sri Lanka in the second and final Test at the P. Sara Oval Stadium in Colombo. This was also Bangladesh’s 100th Test.

Bangladesh recently celebrated playing its 100th Test match by beating Sri Lanka in its own backyard, at the P. Sara Stadium, in Colombo. Bangladesh had never previously won a Test against Sri Lanka, making it a new scalp, after having recently beaten England also for the first time. Bangladesh has now won Tests against Zimbabwe, West Indies, England and Sri Lanka.

Time Taken By The Five Youngest Test Nations To Beat Four Other Test Nations

* Zimbabwe are yet to beat four other Test nations

 

Let us see how Bangladesh fares when compared to the other teams in relation to how long the others took to beat four different Test nations. Out of the 10 current Test nations, five achieved Test status prior to 1930, and five after. To keep this analysis relatively fair, the earlier five Test nations (Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand) have been excluded (since there were only fewer teams playing at the time) and this comparison will, therefore, only be amongst the newer five nations — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

Pakistan is clearly the fastest to have achieved this feat, having beaten four different Test nations in only its first four years and 18 Tests. In terms of matches, Bangladesh is the slowest (100), apart from Zimbabwe, which has not yet beaten four different Test nations, despite having played Test cricket for eight more years than Bangladesh. Let us also take a look at the Test records of these five teams after 100 Tests each.

Records Of The Five Youngest Test Nations after 100 Tests Each

 

 

 

Once again, Pakistan tops the chart, with the most wins (19) and best win-loss ratio (0.73) after 100 Tests, followed by Sri Lanka in both departments. Bangladesh is the worst in both departments, even poorer than Zimbabwe, and has lost an incredible 76 out of its 100 Tests. While it should be proud of and celebrate the victory against Sri Lanka in its 100th Test, Bangladesh certainly has a lot of work to do if it hopes to bring about a semblance of respectability to its Test record.

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