Bangladesh 43 all out against West Indies. A few weeks back Afghanistan embarrassed itself against India in their debut Test. These pointless one sided Tests are diluting the quality of the format.
The problem is that we believe Afghanistan or Bangladesh have improved looking at their limited over performances. But these players aren't playing any real first class cricket to improve their Test match skill.
They can compete in home conditions, but away from home they are embarrassing to watch. It's true that most teams struggle away from home now, but at least they manage to compete in sessions. You can't have a contest over 5 days where one time is completely out of it.
While it sounds noble to give the underdog a gig against the big names, you can't make real progress playing these mis-matches. No matter how much FIFA wants football to grow in India, they will never organize an India vs Germany football match where India will lose 0-17.
You can play as many Tests as you want but host boards need to ensure that the match is organized between teams that are competitive. You don't need an official two-tier system, FIFA doesn't have any. You just need common sense.
For those who say Bangladesh players will learn from this. No they won't. They have more important things to do. They will go back and play *drumrolls* Bangladesh Premiere League.
Yes even India were Test cricket minnows once but the players back then played a lot of First class cricket, they worked primarily on Test cricket skills. Most of these players aspire to play in IPL or BBL to make a name. They simply aren't working on Test cricket skills enough.
We have to accept that even if Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game for players, they get their livelihoods elsewhere playing T20 leagues. Ask all engineers who chose the degree to be on the "safe side" in careers, between passion and the pocket, there is only one winner.
My piece for @Sportskeeda on struggles of the latest members of Test cricket club in coming to terms to its challenges. With a busy limited over calendar and lack of FC cricket, the future looks grim for them.
sportskeeda.com/cricket/why-mi…
sportskeeda.com/cricket/why-mi…
