Callous Aussie betrayal burns cursed patsy

The home side ended proceedings at 6/253, fighting back after Nathan Lyon ran through the top order to finish with five wickets.

Here are all the talking points from the day’s play.

AUSSIE BETRAYAL BURNS CURSED PATSY

Australia’s batsmen let it down in the first Test in Dhaka and Usman Khawaja paid the ultimate price.

The classy top order player — who only managed two scores of one in the series opener — was dropped and all-rounder Hilton Cartwright was promoted to the starting XI to play his second Test, a decision selector Trevor Hohns said was made because of the conditions in Chittagong.

Steve O’Keefe came in for the injured Josh Hazlewood meaning the visitors went with a three-pronged spin attack — four if you include the part-time off-spin of Glenn Maxwell.

Khawaja was unlucky to miss out. His ability to play on the subcontinent is the biggest question mark against his name — though the same can be said for most Aussie batsmen — but that he was only given one match before being booted on this tour reflects the harsh trend that’s infiltrated his international career. He was run out in one innings in Dhaka too which — while it may indicate a cluttered mind — is hardly a sign of someone’s inability to play spin.

His most recent demotion was the sixth time he’s been dropped in a 24-Test career and comes after he was snubbed for the entire Indian series earlier this year. That was despite being pulled from an ODI trip to New Zealand to prepare specifically for that tour — something the left-hander has previously voiced his disappointment at.

Khawaja’s outing in Dhaka was the first time he had batted in a match since an ODI against Pakistan in January, but he was given just one game to stake his claim for a permanent Test gig. What makes his latest omission more remarkable is his stunning recent Test form — he’s scored five fifties and one century in his past six appearances in the baggy green.

Those past six Tests were all on Australian soil, where selectors know he can perform. They clearly don’t trust him in Asia, so it’s a wonder they put him on the plane at all when they knew one poor innings (we’re not including his run out here) would be enough to convince them he wasn’t worth having in the team.

His axing comes despite comments from Steve Smith and coach Darren Lehmann saying they expect Khawaja to play a vital role in this summer’s home Ashes series. If you know that’s the case but don’t trust him on the subcontinent, either leave him at home to prepare or do his confidence some good by giving him more than one match before deciding he’s no longer worth the investment.

The 30-year-old has so often been the fall guy for poor Aussie batting performances, and he has every right to feel betrayed at being made the patsy once again in Bangladesh.

LYON ROARS TO LIFE

Nathan Lyon opened the bowling for Australia on day one, becoming the first Aussie spinner to be given the new ball in the first innings of a Test since 1938. And you could hardly have blamed Steve Smith if he never took the ball off him.

Lyon took five wickets in a special display as he created Test history and beefed up his own resume.

Angling his deliveries into Bangladesh’s top four batsmen — all left-handers — the off-spinner trapped each of them LBW as they played for turn only to see the ball slide straight on and hit them on the pads.

It was the first time in history Bangladesh’s top four batsmen have fallen LBW in a Test match and the second time it’s happened for any country. It was also the first time the Tigers’ top four have been dismissed by a spinner and the first time any nation’s top four have been trapped LBW by the same bowler.

Lyon and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade then combined in the final session to stump Shabbir Rahman, giving the GOAT his fifth scalp.

Lyon now has three five-wicket hauls from his past three Tests. The last Australian to achieve that was Glenn McGrath in 2001 and the last Aussie spinner to do so was Shane Warne in 1994.

The finger spinner’s remarkable performance moved him into seventh on the list of Australia’s greatest ever Test wicket-takers with 261 scalps, surging ahead of paceman Jason Gillespie.

CUMMINS STRUCK DOWN AS AUSSIE PLOY BACKFIRES

Fast bowler Pat Cummins didn’t join his teammates on the field after tea, sparking concerns the prodigiously talented quick may have broken down once again.

The New South Welshman has missed a ton of cricket since making his Test debut as a teenager in 2011 but has finally been able to take the field regularly as his body backs him up.

After scaring Aussie cricket fans by not coming out for the third session, it was revealed Cummins was absent because he was receiving treatment for illness as he struggled in the stifling Chittagong heat.

As the only specialist quick in the XI, his struggles exposed Australia’s brave selection call to snub paceman Jackson Bird in favour of Steve O’Keefe. All-rounder Hilton Cartwright bowled his seamers in Cummins’ absence but was unthreatening, and O’Keefe rarely looked like providing a breakthrough.

Cummins returned to the bowling crease late in the day when Australia took the new ball, but looked sluggish and lacked his usual fire.

JURY STILL OUT ON BOLD SELECTION CALLS

The relevance of Khawaja’s snub aside, Aussie fans didn’t get to see enough of Hilton Cartwright to know if his promotion was the right call.

He bowled only one over — the final six balls before tea — in the first two sessions as Steve Smith was happy to use Pat Cummins and his spinners. But Cummins’ illness meant he didn’t bowl again until late in the final session and Cartwright was given an added workload leading up to the 24-year-old’s return to the bowling crease.

The West Australian’s five overs gentle seamers were unthreatening on a docile Chittagong wicket as Bangladesh’s batsmen found scoring easy off him.

Steve O’Keefe’s elevation in place of Jackson Bird came as the Aussies opted for three spinners and only one specialist quick. Again, Cummins’ extended absence from the attack meant Smith was robbed of variety and you were left wondering whether O’Keefe was offering anything that couldn’t already have been provided by incumbent spinners Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar.

That Lyon and Agar both took wickets while O’Keefe didn’t will only add to the debate over whether it was the right call to play three specialist tweakers.

WADE’S UNIQUE PIECE OF HISTORY

Matthew Wade justified his selection in this Test with some smart work behind the stumps to help Nathan Lyon take his fifth wicket.

Shabbir Rahman missed a ball down the leg side but lost his balance as he swivelled and Wade took the bails off. The decision was sent to the third umpire where it looked almost impossible to decipher if the Bangladesh no. 7 had anything behind the crease.

One replay suggested he may have been safe, but another angle was more damning and convinced Aleem Dar to send the batsman on his way.

Remarkably, despite all the criticism surrounding Wade’s glovework and whether he deserves to be in the side, this dismissal meant he equalled Wally Grout for the most stumpings by an Australian wicketkeeper in Asia. He’s performed six stumpings in nine Tests.

BANGLADESH FIGHTS BACK

Nathan Lyon looked like he was going to rip through Bangladesh’s batting line-up single-handedly but hopes of an Aussie demolition job were dashed by some lower order resistance from the home side.

A patient Mushfiqur Rahim (62 not out) was the perfect foil to a more aggressive Shabbir Rahman (66) as the pair joined forces to show the visitors not everything was going to go their way on day one.

Coming together at 5/117, the pair added 105 runs for the sixth wicket as a wilting attack struggled for penetration in sapping heat. They brought Bangladesh back into the match and even after Shabbir’s dismissal, the hosts’ captain Mushfiqur found another willing ally in Nasir Hossain.

No. 8 Nasir defended when he needed to but also punished the loose ball as he remained unbeaten on 19 alongside his skipper at the end of the day.