Where are the backups?
Bangladesh had 11 days to replace Mosaddek and two days to replace Saif, but they did not.
When Liton Das was retired hurt because of concussion, one question went through everyone's mind, who will replace him if he cannot continue?
The only viable option was Mehidy Hasan, who is known for his off-spin rather than his batting. But Bangladesh had no other option, and when it was confirmed that Liton could not continue, Mehidy was the one who came to bat. And quite unsurprisingly, Mehidy managed to score only eight.
Now, here comes the obvious question - why did Bangladesh have no other option but Mehidy? Initially, Bangladesh had Mosaddek Hossain and Saif Hassan in their squad as the backup batsmen. But Mosaddek had withdrawn himself for personal reasons whereas Saif was ruled out of the second Test because of split webbing, which he suffered taking the catch of Cheteshwar Pujara in the first match as a substitute. And here comes another question, why weren't they reinstated?
Bangladesh cricketer Tushar Imran said that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) could not send in players because the players who are around the national team were playing in the Emerging Cup. He said, "The Emerging Cup is going on and the team is doing very well, they are in the final. Anamul Haque could have been an option, but they did not send a replacement because of the Emerging Cup."
India and Bangladesh are neighbouring countries, and it does not take a lot of time to send a player. In such conditions, Bangladesh should have sent a replacement right after Mosaddek withdrew himself. If not then, after Saif's injury, sending a replacement was a must. And with Kolkata being only half an hour away on a flight, it should not have been a big deal.
The National Cricket League (NCL) had ended recently, which means players were in the game not very long ago. And with only the Asian Emerging Cup going on, there were many players at Bangladesh's disposal. But still, they decided against it and did not send in any replacements.
Obviously, the team management and the board should be cut some slack as Liton Das suffering a concussion is a rather unfortunate incident, but precautions must be taken and Bangladesh did not, and thus they are left with a batsman short.
Bangladesh crumbled easily in the first match with eight batsmen including Mehidy. Now with only 106 in the first innings of the second match and a batsman short, it looks like something very similar is waiting for the Tigers.