Good Problem - when should BD declare in the first innings?

[Kabir]

This test against NZ is making Bangladesh team think more than they have ever thought I presume. When does it make sense to declare in the first innings? And more importantly, when does it make sense for **Bangladesh** to declare in the first innings, given the team we have.

Here are my thoughts...share yours too. There's no right or wrong answer, believe me! The first scenario that I will omit is it's important to let the opponent get all your wickets...this part is easy, we've seen this with every single test BD has played so far (unfortunately).

Option 1: Post 500+, declare at the end of day two

Just give the opponent 10-15 overs to play, and see what they do. They're tired, so take advantage of that. If you can pick up an early wicket or two, that's brilliant. Next morning, try to take advantage of any weather conditions (overcast for example). If they can take a lead, and bowl the opposition out in their first innings by lunch day 4, they are in business. A result is very likely.


Option 2: Post 500+, declare overnight, take advantage of rollers
The commentators were saying this, which made sense at the time. But I don't fully understand this. Is it better for pacers to bowl on a freshly rolled pitch?


Option 3: Post 500+, declare after first hour of 3rd morning
This is what we've done this time. I suspect the reason is that the team wasn't comfortable with low 500s score. They wanted close to 600. I think that's fair - but those 1.5 hrs extra time could have come in handy at the end of day 5 the opponent is in trouble. 4th innings is the trickiest to play.