An ordinary Bangladesh

India in Bangladesh
1st test, 2009/10 season

It is true that Sehwag called Bangladesh an 'Ordinary' team. Was it a figure of speech? Or Was it an hyperbole? No, it was straight talking. Sehwag does not mince words while talking and he talks straight from the heart. Read my previous post on the same subject.

An 'Ordinary' Sehwag

However, Sehwag shot himself on foot, or so it seemed, when India got out at 243. Media went GaGa over it and Bangla fans went delirious. But did anyone realize that India had one poor session when they lost 6 wickets. In the morning session they were going great guns and last session too was OK. It was only after lunch that they floundered.

To further substantiate my point, I did some research on the past performances of Bangladesh. I checked test match data of last 2 years and compared it with India's. It is considered that in last 2 years Bangladesh has improved tremendously. But the data proves that there was nothing out of ordinary in Sehwag's comments.


Bangladesh scored under 200 in 11 innings out of 21 completed innings - more than 50% times. If we consider under 250 scores the percentage jumps to 80%. If we think scores of 254 and 259 are also under par than the percentage jumps to 90%.



India, on the other hand, just has 4 out 28 under 200 innings - a very low 14%. India also had 11 450+ scores in last 2 years whereas Bangladesh had none. Another interesting inference is Bangladesh lost 20 wickets more often than not - 21 out of possible 24 innings.

It is not a comparison between India and Bangladesh. India is at the top while Bangladesh is at the bottom of ICC test ranking. I collated the stats just to prove the veracity of Sehwag's statement. Bangladesh are truly 'Ordinary'.