The cricket loving population in the world has some misconception, misleading ideas and stats about Bangladesh cricket. Even within the Bangladeshi population around the world, many fans seem to complain and demand for changes on every failed performance or outcome. To clear the misconception I am compelled to write something. This may not reach too many or even convince some but sitting and doing nothing was not an option for me. We are dedicated supporters of Bangladesh cricket that are writing this paper and our only goal is to share our ideas, show some stats to back up our ideas and change the way people think about Bangladesh cricket. We write from our heart so please forgive our mistakes errors and enjoy the bits with satisfaction. Getting back to cricket, as murky as our history of cricket looks, the last two years were not bad at all and the stats definitely show sign of improvement at a solid pace. Well, let’s recall what happened on last couple of series/ tournaments!
The series that Bangladesh cricket team played from 2010 are
Tri Series against India and Sri Lanka
2 Test match series against India at home.Bangladesh Tour of New Zealand England tour of Bangladesh
T20 world cup 2010
Bangladesh tour of England
Asia cup in Sri Lanka
Bangladesh tour if England
ODI series against Ireland.
Single ODI series against Netherlands
New Zealand tour of Bangladesh
Zimbabwe tour of Bangladesh
World cup 2011
Australia tour of Bangladesh
Result of Bangladesh cricket team since last year.
Bangladesh started their season with the tri-series against India and Sri Lanka where they lost all the four matches. However, the matches were competitive and the tigers fought hard. They scored 293 against India also and scored 250+ in all the matches. The main reason behind all the losses in this series was due to poor, expansive bowling. The dew factor was also one of the most crucial factors as the side that won the toss or batted second won the game. After finishing the Tri series Bangladesh played two test match series against India. We lost both the matches but both of them ended up in 4th innings. Some individual players well. Players like Riyad, Tamim and Mushfiq performed very well but once again the bowling attack was not strong enough.
After the disappointing performance at home Bangladesh went to New Zealand to play 1 T20, 3 ODI(s) and 1 test series. New Zealand whitewashed Bangladesh due to poor batting and bowling performances from the tigers. There was several times where they threw their wicket. That also struggled to adjust to the foreign condition, lack of preparation, not enough practice matches to adapt the condition also part of the reason for the performance.
Following the Kiwis tour, the England cricket team came to Bangladesh only the 2nd time since Bangladesh achieved the test status. After a solid start by the BCB XI on the practice match, England whitewashed Bangladesh in both ODI and test series. Bangladesh almost won two games had it not been several dropped catches on Morgan who eventually won two matches for England.
After losing all the matches in the series, Bangladesh went to West Indies to compete on the T20 world cup. They played two matches and gave a good fight against the t20 giants Pakistan and Australia. After another disappointing T20 world cup campaign and early exit from the tournament, Bangladesh went to England to play two tests match hoping for some revenge. This would be a memorable tour for Bangladesh for next couple years. They lost all the matches but opener Tamim Iqbal Khan proved the world what Bangladesh cricket can offer. His back to back 100 was outstanding and even that at the home of cricket at Lords. He became the 1st Bangladesh player to score back to back 100. Bangladesh came close on the first match but lost on crucial moment. On the second test, Bangladesh really gave away their match from the very beginning and lost by a huge margin. On both of the matches, the bowling was poor and the lack of quality pacers really drowned the tigers.
After getting swept once again but equipped with some good memories, Bangladesh went to Sri Lanka to participate in the Asia cup along with India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Bangladesh lost all the matches against this big team. Captaincy issue, leadership problem was holding this team back. Non-performers were occupying spots in the name of continuity
Bangladesh didn't win a single ODI match till July 2010. To continue their busy schedule, Bangladesh went back to England to play three ODI matches, but this time, there was a slight change as Bangladesh had their best pacer Mashrafe Mortaza back in action as a skipper. In the 1st ODI, Bangladesh lost the match but they fought back in the 2nd ODI. They won for the first time ever against the England and even better at England! It was dramatic win for Bangladesh. They lost the series 2-1 but it was a successful tour for Bangladesh. They also played two ODI match against Ireland and one against Netherlands. They tied the series against Ireland 1-1 but they lost the single ODI match against Netherlands due to poor weather.
After couple of months breaks Bangladesh, returned to action, hoping to find some momentum before the world cup. Their first opponent was New Zealand at home. It was a five match ODI series. This was the first times Bangladesh played five matches ODI series against any test playing nation. They started their tour with an upset beating the Kiwis in 1st ODI even with Mashrafe getting injured at his second over and no Tamim Iqbal. To aid to our pleasure, tigers won another match and this time even more comprehensively. They defeated New Zealand in rest of the matches as well, and white washed them. Bangladesh won the series 4-0 (one match was washed due to rain). Bangladesh next target was a much weaker opponent Zimbabwe but they lost the match to poor fielding. After losing 1st match against Zimbabwe Bangladesh won rest of the matches against them and won the series 4-1 this series were also the last series before World cup. The positive from this series was both injury return Mashrafe Mortaza and Tamim Iqbal shined and looked ready for world cup action.
World cup at home! High expectation from the fans, Bangladesh Captain Shakib Al Hasan promised the nation that they will win at least three matches in this World cup to qualify for next round. Following a glittering opening ceremony at Dhaka to wake up the fans, the tigers faced the strong Indian team at home for the opening game of the world cup. This match was a disaster where from the bowling point of view bowling.
Everyone hoped for similar outcome from 2007 but without Mashrafe to give a breakthrough, they had no chance what so ever to win that game. After a humiliating loss on the opener, Bangladesh defeated Ireland in their next match to make a comeback but they lost the match against West Indies, after winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Bangladesh got swept hard and was all out for a humiliating score of 58. At this point, Bangladesh was in trouble with two down, a tough match was waiting for them. The match against England, where they had to win to stay alive. However, this time the boys did not disappointment the fans and surprisingly they won the match against England and remained on the race to qualify for the 2nd round. They beat Netherlands quite easily as well. The way forward was still not clear as despite of winning three matches, due to their poor run rate; they had to beat South Africa in their last game. A very crucial and nerve racking game for the entire nation, in which Bangladesh once again failed to cope with the pressure and the loss ruled them out of the world cup journey with three win in six match.50% winning record in the world cup, a good world cup campaign for Bangladesh. It would be better if they qualified in the 2nd round, which was expected given the advantage of home conditions.
Bangladesh last mission before a long break was a short ODI series at home against Australia. Bangladesh Cricket Team’s batting was better in this series; they scored 220+ in every match. However this was not even close to enough as the Aussies easily swept the Tigers 3-0. This Series was very challenging for some individuals within the team like Mashrafe Mortaza, Shahriar Nafees and Alok Kapali. All of them proved themselves and it is expected that they will feature the squad in future if healthy.
Player Brief Analysis
Sometimes we make conclusions too early on certain and sometimes we take too long. There are a whole lot of times when we also make wrong conclusions. That’s why to get us back on track, here are some brief overviews and stats which will make us reevaluate some players and change our conclusion!
Tamim Iqbal
Tests
Scores: 31, 52, 0, 151, 68, 30, 86, 14, 85, 52, 55, 103, 108, 2 (Oldest to recent)
Tamim Iqbal has had an excellent year of Test cricket in 2010-2011 with a batting average of 59.78 in that period. Compared to his career average of 40.13, it is an almost 20 runs improvement, which signifies how hard he has been working at the nets in the recent times. Due to his effort, he has been awarded with the ‘Wisden Test Cricketer of the Year 2010’ award alongside Chris Read, Eoin Morgan, and Jonathan Trott. He took quite a bit of liking to the English bowling attack, scoring at 63.13. He obliterated the English bowling with his sparkling stroke-play around the ground, especially in English conditions. He even had a streak of five 50+ innings including two consecutive hundreds until breaking it in the most recent Test innings by scoring only 2. His highlight performance was most definitely the back to back hundreds against England in Lord’s and Old Trafford, where he smashed the English attack all over the ground to score 103 off 100 and 108 off 114 balls. Another key performance was his 151 against India in January 2010 to help Bangladesh to a 312, especially when the second highest score was Junayed’s 55, which were the only other 50+ score in the innings.
ODIs
Scores: 40, 60, 21, 17, 62, 1, 8, 125, 30, 0, 22, 51, 34, 28, 18, 16, 5, 74, 2, 23, 44, 0, 95, 70, 44, 0, 38, 0, 5, 62, 5, 32 (Oldest to recent)
Tamim Iqbal did not have an exceptional year in ODI cricket, averaging only 32.25 from 32 games including the World Cup. He did not really improved much either, as it is only about 4 runs above his career average of 29.55. In 2010, he played in several home series as well as series in England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. He has never managed to reach a consistent run of good form with the bat. It should also be noted that except for the series against Zimbabwe, he had been playing with a finger injury. It also caused him to miss the home series against New Zealand in November. However, other than a century against England, he had quite a few solid fifties. Some of these innings are worth a mention. In January, his quick-fire 60 off 42 helped Bangladesh reach 296 against India, which is their highest score against a major Test-playing country. In February, in a home match against England where no other Bangladesh batsman managed to get past 30, Tamim top scored in the game with a 125 off 120. He played shots all around the ground to frustrate the English bowlers and was the second last batsman to get out. His efforts in this match won him the Man of the Match award. In July, in English conditions, his steady 74 guided Bangladesh to victory against Ireland to tie the series. In December, in the last match of the series against Zimbabwe at home, he smashed 95 off 96 to snatch off another Man of the Match award and help Bangladesh finish the series off on a high note. Going into the World Cup with high expectations, Tamim disappointed many fans by acquiring an average of 26.17 in 6 games with only one fifty. He played a steady 70 to get Bangladesh to a respectable 283 against India. His 44 and a crucial diving catch helped Bangladesh win against Ireland and awarded him the Man of the Match. However, in the next 4 matches, he scored 0, 38, 0, and 5. With a disappointing World Cup in his belt, he scored 62, 5, and 32 in the three match home series against Australia in April 2011.
As a whole, Tamim Iqbal has greatly underperformed given his potential. He got Bangladesh to a quick start many times, but failed to continue with his momentum, build on it, and make a big innings. In this period, he has 11 innings of scores between 20 and 50, which tells the story of an opener who failed to build on a good start.
Tamim was recently approached by agents from the planned league SLPL, but he rejected them due to international commitment during the projected tournament schedule. However, SLPL has been postponed till August 2012, so there is a possibility he will play there at that time. Australia's KFC Big Bash T20 team Tasmania Tigers is also in plans of approaching him with an offer at the moment. In June 2011, England's county team Nottinghamshire offered him a temporary contract to play 6 games in Friends' Life T20 tournament as a replacement for David Hussey. After accepting the offer, he has already played 3 matches there with excellent performance. Although he scored 8 in the first game, his 47 off 37 earned him the Man of the Match in the second game and 35 off 25 helped the team win in the third.
Shahriar Nafees
ODIs
Scores: 35, 73, 0, 11, 37, 5, 0, 56, 60 (Oldest to recent)
Shahriar Nafees got a chance back into the team in the home series against New Zealand in November following Tamim Iqbal’s exclusion from the team due to a finger injury. In his second comeback match, he scored run-a-ball 73 to help Bangladesh easily chase down New Zealand’s 173. He averaged 29.75 in 4 games with only one fifty. He had to make way for Tamim in the next home series against Zimbabwe. However with some excellent performances from him in the domestic season, he forced his way back into the World Cup squad as a 4th opener. He only got to play 2 games, scoring 37 and 5 in the unfamiliar number 4 position. Following the exclusion of one down/opening batsman Junaid Siddique from the home series against Australia, he climbed up the order to take up a more familiar spot, number 3. He showed what he is made of by scoring two consecutive fifties in the last two matches of the series, averaging 38.67 in three matches. The last fifty was a score of 60 off 86 balls to help Bangladesh reach a score of 295 against the mighty Australia.
As a whole, Shahriar Nafees has made a good comeback to international cricket after 2 years of banishment. He took some time to get his rhythm back, but recent scores show that he is starting to get his form back slowly. He needs to work with the new coach to make sure he does not lose his touch, and keeps his form up.
Shakib Al Hasan
Tests
Scores: 17, 17, 34, 7, 87, 100, 1, 4, 49, 96, 25, 16, 10, 1 (Oldest to recent)
Figures: 5/62, 2/112, 2/118, 0/0, 1/89, 0/44, 1/133, 4/62, 4/124, 0/31, 2/109, 1/48, 5/121
Shakib Al Hasan has struggled with the bat over the past year in Tests. He averaged 33.14 in 14 innings. The only 3 memorable scores he had are 87, 96, and 100. In February 2010, he scored an 87 in the first innings of the only test against New Zealand to help Bangladesh to a 408. In the second innings, when the batsmen were falling apart in chase of 404 to crash out at 282, he held out at the other end of the crease to score a 100. His 96 in the second innings in March against England helped Bangladesh reach a respectable 285. In the bowling department, he has done much better, grabbing 27 wickets in 13 innings, averaging more than 2 wickets per innings. Though, he gave away 39 runs per wicket in this period compared to 32.13 in his overall career. The highlight of his performance was 5/62 in the first innings in January 2010 to restrict India to 243. His 4/62 was the key in stopping the England second innings to 209 in March at home.
ODIs
Scores: 1, 0, 47, 85, 8, 0, 36, 12, 14, 38, 7, 20, 25, 20, 1, 6, 50, 33*, 15, 58, 13*, 106, 36, 63, 9*, 73, 11, 55, 16, 8, 32, 1, 30, 51, 9, 9 (Oldest to recent)
Figures: 0/43, 1/45, 0/27, 1/58, 1/62, 0/13, 4/33, 1/42, 3/32, 1/45, 2/49, 1/49, 2/73, 2/35, 2/40, 0/75, 1/52, 2/21, 2/36, 4/41, 2/45, 3/54, 2/35, 1/37, 4/39, 1/57, 3/58, 1/61, 2/28, 0/1, 2/49, 1/38, 2/46, 0/34, 1/35, 0/48 (Oldest to recent)
Generally speaking, Shakib Al Hasan’s batting last year was not really up to his potential, averaging 30.24 as opposed to his career average of 33.83. But careful inspection would tell a different story. Near the beginning of the year he couldn’t quite find the touch, but he really turned it around after July 2010. Before the match against Ireland in July when he scored 50, he averaged 20.00 in 16 matches in 2010 with only one fifty. From that match until now, however, he averaged 39.88 in 20 matches with 6 fifties and 1 hundred. Clearly, he has improved considerably in terms of ODI batting. He hasn’t had an exceptional year at bowling, though, getting 55 wickets in 36 matches. His bowling average was 27.92. He took more than 3 wickets 6 times, but looked a bit out of touch with his bowling in the recent times. He has had many highlight performances with the bat and the ball. In January, in a game where the top order batsman failed, Shakib put on a steady 85 to help Bangladesh post a respectable 247 against India. His 4/33 was the stand-out performance for Bangladesh against New Zealand in February. His 3/32 against England in March took Bangladesh close to a win. Against New Zealand in October, he put a magnificent all-round performance to grab the win. He scored 58 off 51 to take the struggling Bangladesh innings to 228, before grabbing 4 wickets for 41 to stop New Zealand at 200. This effort won him the Man of the Match award. Two matches later, he puts on another show, laying the foundation of the Bangladesh innings of 241 by scoring 106. Then with the ball he took 3/54 to win Bangladesh yet another match and win himself yet another Man of the Match. His performance in the series won him the Man of the Series award as well. In four matches against Zimbabwe, he performed well with 63, 73, 4/39, and 3/58. After that, his bowling hit a bit of a slump, but he scored two more fifties with the bat.
Australia's KFC Big Bash T20 team Tasmania Tigers is on the verge of offering Shakib a contract for their season in 2011 after he showed some excellent performances for Worcestershire with the ball, winning them most of the T20 games he played this year and securing the Man of the Match in his last game by scoring 21 off 25 and getting 1 for 20 in 4 overs.
Mushfiqur Rahim
Tests
Scores: 44, 101, 30, 10*, 7, 22, 79, 95, 30, 3, 16, 0, 11, 13 (Oldest to recent)
Mushfiqur Rahim has certainly stepped his game up in the past year, averaging 35.46 in 14 innings. This is a huge improvement compared to his career average of 27.14. He has had some highlight performances, one of which is the match against India in January. In the first innings, Mushfiq helped the struggling Bangladesh to 242, just one run behind India’s total, by scoring 44. In the second innings, when batsmen were crumbling under pressure of a 415-run-target, he brightened the day by scoring a cautious 101. Although Bangladesh lost in the game, his performance of 44 and 101 was a big bonus for them. In March, in the first innings against England, Mushfiq scored a responsible 79 to drag Bangladesh to 296 after being 6 wickets down at 159. In the second innings, his 95 and a 167-run partnership with Junaid took Bangladesh to 331. Despite the future looking bright for Mushfiq from the statistics of these matches, there are some big issues that he needs to deal with. These performances all came in home conditions, but, he has performed very poorly overseas. Whether it is temperamental or adaptive issues, he has to deal with them himself as soon as possible.
ODIs
Scores: 35, 6, 32, 7, 8, 86, 4, 22, 76, 40, 30, 6, 1, 22, 9, 13*, 0, 22, 13, 29, 1, 7*, 63, 6*, 25, 36, 0, 6, 11*, 3, 44*, 81*, 1 (Oldest to recent)
Mushfiqur Rahim has been underperforming for the past year with an average of only 27.59. Although this is better than his career average of 24.51, it is still not up to the mark for an international batsman, especially because his wicket-keeping is not best out of all in Bangladesh, and he is in the team more as a batsman-wicketkeeper than a wicketkeeper-batsman. He hit a few crucial fifties to bail the team out from tight position from time-to-time. His 86 against New Zealand rescued Bangladesh from 23/4 to 183/8. His 76 was the key in taking Bangladesh to a competitive 260, with which Bangladesh went close to getting their first win against England. His 63 against Zimbabwe took Bangladesh to a match-winning 246 in December. In the most recent series against Australia, he scored 44 not out and 81 not out to rescue the struggling Bangladesh and post 210 and 229. However his lack of performance with the bat and constant misses as a keeper may just cost him his place in the team, especially because a new selector committee is taking charge, if he does not change his game around soon.
Abdur Razzak
Tests
Figures: 2/157, 2/53, 3/132, 0/67, 2/109
Not much to say about Abdur Razzak’s Test career in 2010, as he only played 3 Tests. He came back into the team after some time, and his performance has not been heartening. His average is lousy, at 57.55, and he only got 9 wickets in 5 innings. It would be better for him to try to improve his performance, or it would be better for the new selectors to find a replacement for him.
ODIs
Figures: 0/37, 0/66, 0/41, 0/40, 0/41, 3/52, 2/40, 1/48, 1/64, 2/43, 0/63, 1/47, 1/30, 0/50, 1/28, 1/47, 1/41, 2/34, 4/41, 5/30, 4/14, 0/31, 0/74, 1/30, 0/8, 2/32, 3/29, 1/47, 1/54, 0/58, 3/58
Looking at statistics, Abdur Razzak has done very poorly with the ball for Bangladesh as he only got 40 wickets in 31 matches with an average of 32.95 per wicket. However considering the circumstances, he is getting increasingly confident as a bowler, especially after having to change his bowling action completely. He is Bangladesh’s leading wicket-taker at the moment and certainly, he has looked his part in the recent matches in bits and pieces. After some very poor performances throughout last year, he has turned it around in the series against Zimbabwe, where he had figures of 4/41, 5/30, 4/14 and took 13 wickets in 4 matches. After a forgettable World Cup and series against Australia, however, he can only look back on those performances against Zimbabwe, as well as 3/29 and 3/58 against Netherlands and Australia, for inspiration. He will certainly need some hard work on his bowling to become Bangladesh bowling’s dependence again, as he was before changing his action.
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza
ODIs
Figures: 0/37, 2/37, 0/70, 0/47, 0/30, 2/42, 3/31, 0/20, 1/28, 0/43, 0/7, 0/36, 0/17, 1/20, 2/25, 2/65, 3/80
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has been instrumental in Bangladesh’s success over the years, but injuries have scarred his progress quite a few times. He has always been back afterwards, though, because he is a tough fighter. One such injury pegged him back in 2009 during the West Indies tour while captaining the side. He came back to the team after the long break in February 2010. However coming back from an injury and bowling well is always a tough task, as evident from his figures in 2010. Furthermore, he fell to yet another injury during the 1st match of the New Zealand home series that throws him out the series completely. He makes another comeback during the Zimbabwe series, improving game-by-game with figures 0/36, 0/17, 1/20, and 2/25. Unfortunately, he is injured once again, this time during a domestic game. This time, it throws him out of the World Cup. He went through rehabilitation instead of having the surgery to make himself available for the World Cup, but his efforts go in vain as the selectors did not want to take the chance. He comes back during the Australia series afterwards to play two games with figures 2/65 and 3/80. After some consultation with surgeon David Young, he finally went for the surgery, which puts him out of play for 6-7 months. His 3/31 against England in a match where other Bangladeshi bowlers went for quite a bit of runs has been one of his brighter performances. He also got a Man of the Match award for captaining the team well through their 5-run-triumph over England and leading from the front with a figure of 2/42. Against Australia in the most recent match, he bowled well to get 3 wickets, but went for a lot of runs. Clearly, Mashrafe has been in touch in some patches over last year, but has been struggling due to his recurring injury. Hopefully, a post-surgery Mashrafe will work hard to become what he was for Bangladesh more than 2 years ago.
Imrul Kayes
Tests:
Imrul Kayes has been extremely underperforming in Tests last year. He averaged only 20.85 in 14 innings with only one fifty. His 75 against England helped Bangladesh get a solid opening partnership of 185 and post a respectable 382. However if he does not improve his Test batting performance, it would be better for the new selectors to replace him with a new face.
ODIs:
In ODIs, Imrul Kayes has been the most consistent performer with the bat for Bangladesh since last year, scoring 1157 runs at 33.05 average with 9 fifties and a hundred. Although his strike rate has been a bit low, 67.50, he has been able to provide a foundation for the team as an opening batsman and hold on at the other end when wickets fell quickly.
Junaid Siddique
Tests:Junaid Siddique has performed well for Bangladesh last year in Tests with the bat at number 3. He averaged 34.66 with 3 fifties and a hundred. Many of the times he came in early and shown character to build a solid second wicket partnership. His 55 against India in January in a 200-run second wicket partnership, where he came in at 19/1, helped Bangladesh build 312, despite a middle & lower order collapse.
ODIs:
Since last year, as Jamie Siddons said about Junaid Siddique, he has got a good start many times, but failed to build on it. His average of 31.00 hardly reflects his talent. Although, it is a big improvement from his career average of 23.40. He has 4 fifties and a hundred, but 7 25+ scores that he could have continued on to get a big score.
Roqibul Hasan
ODIs:Roqibul Hasan has hardly done any justice to his talent by his performance in ODIs since 2010. In 19 matches, he scored at an average of 23.11 with only 2 fifties. Nine times out of 19 he has scored in the single digits. He needs some work on his techniques until he can expect to perform again on the big stage. He also needs learn how to properly play a steady innings when wickets fall too quickly, picking the gaps and taking the singles, because his strike rate of 60.18 certainly does not help the team.
Mohammad Ashraful
Tests:Mohammad Ashraful has poured water in everyone’s hopes of him returning to the previous form with his poor batting performances in Tests in 2010. He has averaged a mere 15.70 in 10 innings with a highest score of only 39. That being his only 30+ score, he needs to learn how to be patient in a Test innings to build a big score. Most of the time, he got out through playing an impatient shot up in the air or coming out of the crease to show aggressiveness. Perhaps he is just not someone who is capable of playing a Test match.
ODIs:
In ODIs since 2010, Mohammad Ashraful has been underperforming greatly, given the extent of his talent. He has averaged 16.57 from 14 matches with only one fifty. That, too, came in the very first match of 2010, a beautiful 75 against Sri Lanka that took Bangladesh to 260. After that, he has been able to score more than 30 only once. The selectors’ constant persistence has given him many chances, but he has failed to take any of them.
Mohammad Mahmudullah
Tests:Mohammad Mahmudullah has performed well consistently with the bat last year. He averaged 41.92 in 14 innings with 4 fifties and 2 hundreds. His consistency has established him as a dependent figure for Bangladesh in the middle and lower order. He has often rescued Bangladesh from tough situations in which a lot of wickets fell quickly to take them to a competitive score. His off-spin has the ability to give the occasional breakthrough and makes him a vital weapon for Bangladesh in Tests.
ODIs:
Mohammad Mahmudullah’s performance with the bat in ODIs since 2010 was on par as well, with an average of 35.42. Although he has only picked up 3 fifties, most of his innings came at crucial times when the team was in trouble, and he was able to deliver. This can be justified by the fact that out of 28 innings, he stayed not out in 9. With the ball, he gave the occasional breakthroughs with the ability to bowl 10 overs when needed by the team.
Naeem Islam
Tests:
Despite scoring at an average of 45.33 last year with one fifty in the 2 tests that he has played, Naeem Islam has been ignored and not given a chance in the tour of England in July. Perhaps giving him a few more chances will secure Bangladesh an excellent lower order batsman.
ODIs:
Naeem Islam has been underperforming in ODIs, scoring at 20.14 in 19 innings with no fifties. However, he was not out in 5 of those innings, and most of the time, he comes in to the crease during or just before the batting power play, and is expected to hit right from the word go. With the ball, he picked up 14 wickets and can give the occasional breakthrough as well as bowl 10 overs if necessary.
Shafiul Islam
Tests:Shafiul Islam has been very ordinary with the ball in the 5 Tests he has played in his career, although he did show some glimpses of his talent. His highlight has been his maiden 3 wicket haul against India, when he set an example by finishing with figures of 3/86 in only his second Test. Overall, he took 7 wickets in the 8 innings he has bowled in.
ODIs:
Shafiul Islam has been an excellent find for Bangladesh as far as talent goes. However, 39 wickets in 32 matches last year hardly reflects any of the potential he has. He bowled quite well in bits and pieces, but as a whole failed to meet the expectations. He picked up a 3-wicket haul 6 times so far, but improving his line and length and developing some variations would be crucial in becoming Bangladesh’s asset in the coming years.
Rubel Hossain
Tests:9 wickets from 11 innings last year is certainly not something Rubel Hossain would be proud of. What makes it worse is that other than a 5-wicket-haul against New Zealand in February, he has never even got more than 1 wicket in an innings. He will need to work on his accuracy and variation if he has any hopes of becoming a threat to opponent batsmen in near future.
ODIs:
Similar story in ODIs as well for Rubel Hossain, as he only took 20 wickets from 20 innings since 2010. Only two 3-wicket-hauls certainly do not do any justice to the selectors who have put faith in him many times. He went wicket less in 8 matches and will certainly need to look back and figure out what went wrong and what he could have done better.
Suhrawardi Shuvo
ODIs:Although he is in the team as an all-rounder, Suhrawardi Shuvo never really performed with the bat or the ball. He averages 11.14 with the bat and picked up 13 wickets in the 15 matches he played. His only moments of spotlight were when he took 3 wickets for 14 runs against New Zealand to inspire a comprehensive win and pick up his first & last Man of the Match award; as well as when he took 3 wickets for 44 runs to limit Australia to a score of 270. Other than these two performances, he has hardly made any mark in international cricket and is best to be forgotten as quickly as possible.
Problems of the team based on some observations
Every team in the world has problems, issues that prevent the team from being “perfect.” Some critics demand that Bangladesh’s test status should be taken away due to all the problems they have. However, taking away the test status from Bangladesh would not be the solution but will aid further on their confidence break down. Well, let us look at the problems and identify some of the possible solutions. The biggest problem Bangladesh cricket team has at the moment is handling the pressure. Bangladeshi players have proved themselves extremely vulnerable to pressure, and this the biggest factor that prevents them from winning most of the games. The world saw Bangladesh completely losing out on the pressure of world cup at home against teams like West Indies, India and South Africa. There were games in 2010 as well where it was pressure and game intensity that made them losers from winners. They fail to capitalize on crucial moments or stay alive at the last moment. If they cannot improve on this, Bangladesh can only go as far as “close match”
Another issue that has been noticed within the team is their ability to build up and stay on the game. An ideal team usually tries to stay alive on the game when responding to a higher than expected total. As difficult as it might sound for the Bangladeshi players, it is about taking singles looking for that odd delivery and uses the opportunity to get the fielding captain thinking. Bangladeshi players does not seem to understand the simple concept and when they are faced with a tough target, they sort of “give up” and just play for individual records. It is shocking how they fail to grasp the simple concept of playing ball to ball and putting opponents on pressure. Most of the batsmen have this huge deficiency of rotating the strikes. This is something which is very crucial and this makes a team experienced and professional. Bangladesh does need some work on that.
Within the team, the problem of consistency remains as stars like Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Shafiul Islam struggles to be consistent. Even at their consistent mediocre performance, the team has a great chance to pull off a win against tough oppositions. While Jamie Siddons worked hard to increase their consistency over the past few years, the progress seems to be sluggish at this point. When they try to maintain consistency, this for some reason automatically means giving up the target and playing for personal record. On the other hand, when they risk it, results like 58 and 78 occur. Is it time Bangladesh starts giving this issue a deeper thought?
Along with all physiological and development issues, the team has a small issue regarding team chemistry and morale. Each player seems to play more for their individual record rather than team achievement. Relationship between players are not perfect which was proven right after the first ODI between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe when the skipper Shakib Al Hasan slammed the board for playing some players while leaving out others. While his arguments were valid up to some extent, this kind of direct challenge does question the chemistry of the team and affects individuals. However, this was not the issue until very recently. Throughout the history, Bangladesh was a much more united team and had better team chemistry.
Solution
So we have all these problems within the team but what is the solution? It is not difficult to identify the problems, but it is more difficult to find a solution and execute them properly for a fruitful result. For Bangladesh, the solution is not easy and to some extent would take time to produce any result. For example, Bangladesh’s confidence problem and their ability to handle pressure. Simple solution would be to tell the entire Bangladeshi population to turn their back or close their eyes to prevent the addition of pressure at ground! However, we cannot do that. Bangladeshis are one of the most passionate cricket lovers in the world and even a boundary can raise their hope as high as winning the world cup! So there has to be a better solution. Handling pressure and believing on an individual’s capabilities comes in a slow process which is experience. For youngsters, one good game can boost their confidence while crash it on a bad game. This is the law of nature for most of the young players. All that can be done is motivate the players and the coach has to play a crucial part here. Because, sometimes, motivation seems like pressure to the boys when they come from supporters. The coach should always try to make players believe that any target, goal is possible and giving up is not an option in this stage of cricket. Players also need to believe in their own ability Apart from that, this current pool of players will be much more effective in handling pressure as they gain more experience. All we fans and they need is patience.
Another problem Bangladesh has is their inability to build up on an innings and stay on the game. When Bangladesh is facing a bigger total than their ideal chase, the scenario is almost same on every game. They do not properly use their first 10 over batting power play and after that when the fielding is spread out, they don’t take the singles and watch their required rate climb higher and higher. This is crucial because singles is the key to chasing totals on a 50 over match. So what is the solution? Is it complicated for the coaches to emphasize on rotating strikes to get off the pressure? Or is it too difficult for players to get this simple concept on their head regardless of the opponent, target, situation, intensity. If Bangladesh team can master this ability to rotate pressure, they will not only get much closer to victories but also decrease that pressure they fear. Bangladesh simply needs a better batting consultant who needs to go through drills on rotating strikes and finding gaps.
The problem that haunts the coaches of Bangladesh most is consistency. Many coaches tried various approach to this solution but the consistency level of our team remains less than acceptable. Whatmore tried to use experience to bring more stability while Siddons brought in fresh new talents and settled with them for extensive period. However, it seems like no one was really interested for a balanced solution, not for an extended period at least! This might not be their entire fault as ICL got into the way and BCB did all they could to prove their worth!
So how to solve this everlasting issue?
Once again, it is a long process and consistency can be increased once players are more experienced and more matured. Along with that, it is very beneficial to stick with a pool of players. That does not mean keep giving a player chances who failed for extensive period. However, it does not make sense to “banish” them from the pool right away. One of the biggest components that lead to improved consistency is domestic cricket. Bangladesh cricket is certainly not the busiest teams in the world, which leaves them a lot of time for domestic cricket. The players should participate in domestic cricket whenever they have the opportunity and use them properly. By properly I don’t mean “minnow bashing”! The goal should not be to build up on their stats but try out those details that they struggle with in international level. Try those shots that are the hardest to hit, bowl those deliveries that you are yet master properly! Improve on your line and length if that is what’s keeping you down. Try that shot that got you out on the previous game so you can master it. If you can improve even slightly from these matches, the purpose of domestic matches is fulfilled. Just because you are Tamim Iqbal or Abdur Razzaq does not mean you have mastered domestic cricket. For all you know, there is definitely a hidden talent that is waiting to be unleashed, which you can learn from.
The team chemistry problem is something which is probably the easiest to fix. What players must understand is that they are on a same team, under the same coach, and have proved themselves worthy to be on the team. A player should not have to worry about giving up power or position if the individual is confident and can prove it. Yes, I am referring to none other than Shakib Al Hasan!
There are controversies regarding the relationship between him and certain players. Whatever that reason might be this should not reflect on the field. It should be prevented from spreading like an infection through the media. For example, it was shocking to see our skipper slam the selection committee for including certain players! If he has concerns, the coach is always there and so is the BCB! But why involve the media? Come on Shakib, You have more than enough media attention! And look what you did to the confidence to those you pointed! You do not have the right to criticize your team mates who have twice more experience that you do. It is also not sensible to criticize back to former cricketers who contributed so heavily for the position you are.
Same goes for Mashrafe Mortaza. BCB have always taken your side and supported you but when they did not take a risk for your own safety by not including you, you should not forget the history. The team can never succeed without a solid relationship between the board, players and coach. Everyone needs to adjust, act for the collective good. Cricket is a team sport! The best result will be achieved if everyone works as a team and respect each other and provide motivation and trust at tough times.
Coaching!
In any sport of the world, coaching plays a crucial role at the performance and development in the sports. In Cricket, teams changed dramatically under the guidance of great coaches. For Bangladesh, the coaches in past have brought much needed changes. The team only improves under all coaches rather than going backward, sometimes the improvement have been significant others not so much. Last year was a big year on caching history of Bangladesh cricket. With Jamie Siddons settled in and improving the team, BCB decided to splash the cash for some more coaches to boost their chances in the world cup. They hired Ian Pont from England as a bowling coach and Julien Fountain for fielding coach. There were a physiologist too to mentality shape the young boys. All these appointments were bound to improve Bangladesh team, and the result was immediate as Bangladesh washed the New Zealand at home 4-0 without Tamim Iqbal and Mashrafe Mortaza. Every department of the game looked solid and the hot streak continued when Zimbabwe visited them at the end of the year. With two series wins, the coaches were satisfied and so were BCB. However, this did not continue long as the hot streak turned into cold streak at the main event! The 2011 ICC World Cup. Flaws were noticed in bowling, batting and fielding against the giant teams. They did manage to beat England but BCB was not thoroughly satisfied with the results as they decided not to extend Jamie Siddons after the ODI series in Dhaka following the world cup. They were also hesitant to sign a big contract with the bowling coach Ian Pont, and they are still negotiating with Julien Fountain. So how did these coaches contribute to Bangladesh’s improvement? What were the setbacks? Let us talk coach by coach!
Ian Pont:
A personal known for a tremendous knowledge of fast bowling and a very energetic coach, joined Bangladesh before the New Zealand series. For the mediocre seam attack, Ian Pont was the best man to help raise the level to a more competitive one. For most part he was highly successful. Under his coaching, at very short time, he brought significant improvement to Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain and Nazmul Hossain. Due Mashrafe Mortaza’s injury, Shafiul Islam and Rubel got the job to lead the pace attack and they performed significantly well bagging good number of wickets maintaining reasonable economy. They improved on their line, length, pace, swing, variation, and Ian even discovered a new ball called “projapoti” a slow delivery that was expected to be effective. His passion about Bangladeshi bowlers was evident every day as he was determined to improve the pacers. However, he barely had time to completely change some issues or take a deeper approach as he was given a total of six months from which players had to be released for premier league for a month. As a result, progress was achieved for short-term and the world cup was not a success where pace attack was concerned. The pressure overcame all the teaching of Ian Pont. Regardless of the world cup tragedy, Bangladesh Cricket Board were impressed by his performance as a coach and wanted to negotiate a long-term contract with him. However, due to complications on both sides, the deal was not done. As a result, the deficiency of a good fast bowling coach for Bangladesh cricket remains.
Jamie Siddons:
The head coach and the batting coach for Bangladesh following the departure of Dave Whatmore, Jamie Siddons successfully improved Bangladeshi cricket up to a new level and helped the boys achieve the consistency onto a better level. As a coach, his focus had been clear throughout his regime. He wanted to work with a set of players for a longer period in order to improvise their techniques and achieve a good team combination and chemistry. However, his plan was in trouble and Bangladesh lost an important set of set players to a controversial tournament known as ICL. ICL was an unauthorized competition, which resulted in Bangladesh cricket board banning important figures like Shahriar Nafees, Habibul Bashar, Dhiman Ghosh, Aftab Ahmed, Alok Kapali and many more. As a result, Siddons had to look for new talent and quickly in time for the 2007 world cup. His biggest achievement during his time is probably Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan. With some more players he completely changed the look of Bangladesh cricket and turned them into an unpredictable team. Since last year, he finally put his plans on actions as the team barely saw new faces or old faces return. He maintained team combination, which can both be questioned and cheered. There were players like Mohammed Ashraful who despite failing countless times remained on the team too long and on the other hand giving players like Imrul Kayes multiple chances yielded positive results. His willingness to maintain a similar team turned a little egocentric toward the end as he opposed changes that had the potentials of bringing positive results. This was one of the reasons why the power play problem was never solved. To maintain the team combination he played the same XI for all three formats. This resulted in some imbalance in all formats. For example, top order test players like Mahmudullah Riyad and Naeem Islam were handed the responsibility to play as a slog hitter, Defensive minded Roqibul Hasan and Imrul Kayes were required to change their style to cope with T20 pressure. This obviously affected their style and consistency. His technique became questionable to as he refused to give chances to players whp had the ability to make a difference. This meant that the deficiency of a power hitter or a stable top order remained and those were part of the reason why Bangladesh’s batting order was unsuccessful for the most part. Even after a disappointing world cup campaign, he had the opportunity to turn things around his favour by a good home series against Australia. But it was all ashes as none of his plans worked and the tigers lost the series three to zero. All these results were enough for Bangladesh cricket board to make the painful decision to not renew his contract.
That’s how Jamie Siddons era came to an end. He brought significant improvement to the team. He was tough but was unable to motivate the players and make the players believe in their ability. Instead he tried to change the players to accommodate different slots of the line-up. This was the biggest mistake during his time but other than that, his teachings will always be remembered and appreciated.
Other coaches involved the fielding coach Julien Fountain who has been the best fielding coach of all time for Bangladesh. The fielding attribution have changed so much that there were matches where fielding saved the game. Julien worked hard during the short amount of time before the world cup and suddenly Bangladeshi is a better fielding side out of two against most teams! However, there are issues that remains unsolved or could not be solved within the duration. That issue is called “wicket keeping” If you know cricket you know how crucial wicket keeping is especially for a team that is loaded with spinners. You have to be ready as a keeper for stumpings, sudden catches and run outs. I have lost track of the number of times how many opportunities Mushfiqur Rahim missed. Reality has been that Mushfiq never really got up to the keeping standard of Khaled Mashud Pilot. He looked solid sometimes but completely lost on the other hand. This is something the new coach will have to look into with greater detail.
New Coach!
Since Ian Pont, Jamie Siddons, Julien Fountain all had to leave, Bangladesh has been looking for a new coach for quite a while. With high paying short-time jobs like IPL, finding full-time coaches under a reasonable budget has been a big challenge. Most coaches were not willing to make long- term commitments. Even though lots of names were thrown out by the media, few were factual. Finding a coach became quite a fuss in Bangladesh as the board kept jumping back and forth. Some of the prospects were Graham Ford, Mick Newell, Ian Pont, Brian Lara, Roy Dias, Keepler Wessels and many more. After a month of confusion, the board finally reached agreement with the current Sri lankan Interim coach Stuart Law for the position. Stuart, despite of his lack of extensive experience came in heavy price. He will be paid more than Jamie Siddons and also demanded a window for coaching IPL. This was however turned down by BCB after endless drama. Stuart is expected to join the Tigers before the Zimbabwe tour. Stuart Law is an Australian batsman who has excellent domestic records. He played few international games for the Aussies but his achievement remains in the heart of county cricket in England. His practical, tough approach is expected to improve the toughness and consistency of the Tigers lineup. He told the media that his main goal is to shape the players mentality and make them believe in their abilities. Moreover, he is determined to improve Bangladesh statistically by improving their ranking in both ODI and Test cricket.
Other than a batting head coach, Bangladesh cricket board is yet to announce a fielding and bowling coach. The A team coach Sarwar Imran has been announced as a deputy coach for Stuart Law for the next tour and it remains uncertain about the appointment of other coaches any time soon.
Grounds
Throughout Bangladesh cricket history, the teams suffered from the deficiency of multiple international grounds. However, this is not the case any more. Now Bangladesh has multiple international standard stadiums to play in. These stadiums are located in Dhaka, Fotulla, Chittagong, Khulna, Bogra, Syllet, Rajshahi. Due to the world cup, every venue aside from Shere Bangla National Stadium and Zohur Ahmed National stadium got major upgrades. Stadiums gone through better seating facilities, improved drainage facilities, media box, new post conference room, change room, indoor practice facilities equipped with some advanced equipment. Shere Bangla stadium acquired the “hover cover” a very effective ground covering technology making this stadium one of the top ones in the world. That is why most of the games are organized on the home of Bangladesh cricket at Shere Bangla and few in Zohur Ahmed. The reason is quite understandable as other locations produce less demand than these two giant cities and also have lower seating capacity and technology. There is also a problem with accommodations as small towns like Bogura, Khulna barely hold good hotel facilities. However, these upgrades have not gone in waste as they will heavily increase our domestic cricket quality and our players will have better facilities around the country. Yet, the problem remains; it does not matter if a country creates a first class venue or ten, the surface is same! All the venues more or less are slow, turning wickets. As good as they are for the large army of spinners, there are not much offered for the pacers of Bangladesh. This is a major setback for Bangladesh cricket as the lack of quality pacers is what preventing them from becoming one of the stronger nations, especially at foreign soil. Ex-coach Jamie Siddons said, "The first-class competition is very different, wickets are slow and low, dominated by spin, not always good spinners, but spinners tend to hold the score up and get wickets," Siddons told ESPNcricinfo.”Almost all of our first-class grounds are like that, so an opening bowler might bowl a four-over spell and then not come back until the second new ball sometimes. So in terms of developing fast bowlers it is very difficult for them to even want to bowl fast." His remarks proves the point how these grounds are not an encouraging sight for the young pacers and they tend to move toward slow bowling to gain surface advantage. This is also a setback for Bangladesh in test cricket because in test matches, pacers play a crucial role, but in venues like Shere Bangla or Zohur Ahmed, there is very little for the pacers leaving odd 20-30 overs of spin each spinner! This also damages the spinners as they barely get tested on an unfriendly surface.
Let’s look at Shere Bangla National Stadium lately, a low and slow wicket which really did not have a whole lot of turn as predicted but on the down side, the lack of enough bounce made the pacers helpless. This technically makes Dhaka a batting wicket, which is not favouring the tigers that are not very offensive except Tamim Iqbal and are inconsistent even with their defensive approach. So what has to be done? Well First things first, the wicket somehow needs to go either way. The BCB can take a bit of risk for a change and make it a bouncy track or work something out so that the spinners get more turn like they do in Chittagong. Speaking of Chittagong, with a typical slow wicket, this surface is a Bangladeshi special and any team in the world would struggle here without sufficient experience. This wicket should not be changed and on a 5th day on a test match, its heaven for spinners! Having said that, there are other grounds like Fotulla and Bogura where BCB can easily convert the slow wicket to a bouncy or green pitch aiding our pacers. It is understandable that when playing at home, Bangladesh will use their spin advantage but at least pacers from the country will have the chance to develop and the domestic competition could be taken to a new level. The players would also get that experience so that when they go for tours out of sub-continent, they will not take as much time to adjust to the conditions.
Even in such a small country like Bangladesh, there are multiple high quality cricket grounds for players to grow and for spectators to enjoy. There are plans to make a large 70K capacity stadium in the tourism city of Cox’s Bazaar. With all these grounds, it allows BCB to experiment with the conditions and give our player variations and challenges within the home borders. All it takes is some initiative.
Domestic League
Domestic league is so crucial for a development of a cricketing nation because it is the source of the new players and a base of a cricket system. A good domestic cricket can benefit the national team in so many ways. As I mentioned, it provides fresh talents and gives the out of form players an opportunity to find that form back and experiment, improve their techniques. Currently Bangladesh has a decent domestic structure but lacks top facilities, equipment, and proper coaches to improve the players and teams. Basically the players are required to be independent learners for most part. Some better equipment, better practice facilities, gyms and most importantly, good coaches that can guide them to a more professional level. However, this is not the only issue; there is another issue that make the domestic league of Bangladesh useless. That is selection of players. Quick decision, biased selection, un thoughtful choice, whichever you want to call it, there have been way to many times where selections selects someone for the national XI based on few upset performances but ignores the players that have been more consistent. What this does is the new players that come in are inexperienced and do not usually have the depth in their game to perform well. This also explains why Bangladesh has the youngest team in the world and perhaps the most inconsistent one. So how to solve this issue? There are players within the domestic compound that are much more experienced and with a little guidance from the coaches, they can turn things around. Look at some other teams from the world. You do not see players entering an Aussie side without an extensive domestic experience! So what is the rush?
At the end of the day, it is a delight to see the domestic structure of Bangladesh cricket getting stronger every year. There are 4 day tournaments, one day league and the exciting premier league which brings out talents from the country. Recently the final 5 day match between Dhaka and Rajshahi proved how competitive and professional the domestic level has reached and the players are starting to embrace the idea behind test cricket. All it needs is better guidance and better handling by the board and we can have a big set of players who will be ready to go when needed. If it helps, bring out foreign players to give our players that experience. When a set of players look solid, let them move onto academy and A team, not the national squad because that’s a huge shift. The cricket board should also introduce T20 Leagues to develop players ability to be aggressive as well as provide short time thriller for the cricket loving crowd of Bangladesh. Overall, use the system well because the domestic structure we have right now is something Ireland, Netherlands would kill to have!
Bangladesh Premier League (BPL)
Currently, the Bangladesh Cricket Board is in talks over the possibility of an IPL-like tournament in Bangladesh named Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) that will have a lot of foreign cricketers and the opportunity to personalize part or all of the teams by buying them. Initial plans have been set as to what kind of things will be or can be included in a tournament like this if the BCB ultimately decides in favor of hosting it. The number of teams will be 6-8, and companies, celebrities, & franchises will be able to buy the teams and give them specialist coaches. These team owners can also be from outside Bangladesh, according to BCB chairman Mostafa Kamal. He even went one step ahead by claiming that Shahrukh Khan expressed interest in owning a BPL team. Although, that is yet to be confirmed. BCB is planning to host this tournament every 5 years at the beginning, but depending on the success of it, the amount of years per cycle may be reduced. They are also thinking about allowing 5 foreign players per match, since IPL has plans to do the same next year. The games will be organized in floodlights and will consist of venues from Chittagong as well.
Currently, BCB is looking for a foreign event management company for the organization of this event. They are also looking for one of the big-name sponsors to cover their costs as much as possible. They will also hold a tender-auction to bid for the broadcasting rights of this tournament. TV channels from other countries such as India will also be able to participate. This tournament, if approved, will be hosted sometime in December 2011 or January 2012. BCB has already set up a committee that will handle the planning of this event and they are asked to report by the end of July 2011. According to reports, they have already started talking with various agents and hope to get a good amount of foreign players for this tournament. Among players they have started talks with are Herschelle Gibbs, Adam Gilchrist, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni etc.
This kind of tournament is helpful for the young cricketers as well as the current ones, who can learn a lot by playing alongside world class international players. It also attracts a lot of attention from Cricket lovers, and this would give Bangladeshi cricketers a chance to show their worth against the best of the best. However, knowing BCB’s history, whether or not this tournament will actually be hosted is still a mystery. Especially after Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) has been delayed due to the loss of support from the Indian Cricket Board, the BCB is bound to hesitate and waver a little bit more.
School Cricket It is so important to develop young talents for any sports but the BCB has done very little to improve it in Bangladesh. On every sport, talents are discovered from high school sports and later they are picked for domestic level. Players from popular sporting leagues like NHL, NBA, NFL all developed from high school leagues and later climbed their way to a higher level. Bangladesh cricket needs to do the same. A High School league should be introduced around the country to compete for regional tournaments in which young athletes get the opportunity to develop or practice cricket. This gives the opportunity for the unfortunate ones who does not have enough chances to develop their skills. It also makes it easier to hunt talent. These kinds of cricket leagues could also be made more competitive by making them from inter school to city/town championship, from city championship to divisional championship and on. Bangladesh has an overwhelming population of young students/athletes, so this kind of competition should be extremely popular, and we can grow as a cricketing nation very fast!
“A team” Academy team and Premier League
After the domestic system, it is the A team and the academy team that prepares a player for the national team. However how are these systems different? To me, the academy team is a more advanced approach than the domestic competition, and this is for fresh talents to grow from a younger age. “A” team is the place for players that are ready for that top level but needs that international experience. The goal of both the A team and Academy team is to get away and home tours against foreign teams as much as possible to give the players that experience of the pre-professional level.
Lately BCB have decided to give the academy a good instructor as the hired Ross Turner from Australia to guide them and produced immediate results as they completely blanked the South African academy on their second test of the series and are performing very well in the T20 series. If Ross Turner can nurture the players well at academy level, it will be an easier job for A team staff and the national squad to prepare these players. However, the A team has been recently held back.
Equipped with experienced players like Ashraful and Junayed Siddique and couple others, they failed to stand out on A tour in South Africa and lost all test and ODI series. Players will have to turn it around if they want to a part of the national squad anytime soon.
The premier league is like IPL for Bangladesh. With some good cash in hand for the clubs, they spend their money well on foreign talents and the stars of Bangladesh cricket. Currently the premier league has expanded more than ever and now features 12 teams. The quality of cricket can be increased up to a huge extent if they splash some cash on better equipment, practice facilities and coaches. BCB also launched the PCL (Port City League) and planning to launch a rival competition to IPL, BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) There is no point organizing these tournaments if the purpose is only to make financial profit.
Future Selection
Team selection is a very crucial section of any cricket board. As I mentioned, wrong or improper selection can harm the development of new players as well as ignoring proven talents. For Bangladesh, there have been too many errors where selection is concerned. For example, last year, a batsman Faisal Hossain was recalled for the England tour after an extended period out of team. What was wrong with that? Well you tell me what is right about that? What is positive about bringing a player that has been a better test player to play at number 7 in ODIs at England where Bangladesh never won any games until that series! I can provide more examples to the readers but bottom line is our selection process is just not good enough. As a mentioned earlier, picking somebody up who shined for a limited time is not always the best approach. It is ridiculous to bring new players or out of form players in for tours away from home or against tough opposition. Because there is this word today in the world called “transition” which needs to be followed properly. Also when considering new players for the national XI or even A team, it is not only form that matters. Selectors must consider experience and the specialty. Like Faisal Hossain’s situation last year, bringing in a test player to accommodate a slog hitter position just because the individual is in form is irrelevant. Captaincy and vice captaincy selection is also a very crucial and a difficult task that must be given a lot of thought, research, deep analysis before appointing such position. Again, form is not the only factor to consider here because it takes a bad series to turn a hot streak into a cold streak. Experience, cricketing knowledge, mentality, social factors are the qualities that must be in a good captain. A captain must be able to face any kind of scenario and handle it without getting swallowed by pressure. There have been mistakes in terms of appointing captain in all levels which have affected the individual’s performance and the result of the game. The board and the selection committee must review these errors and avoid further mistakes.
Speaking of selection panel, Bangladesh recently selected a new selection panel following the end the Aussie series.
The selection panel consists of all former cricketers as well as captains Akram Khan, Habibul Bashar and Nannu. Looking at these names, there is no doubt that this selection panel is very educated when it comes to cricketing knowledge. Having played for Bangladesh, they also recognize issues that still exist from their time. Moreover, they have a solid knowledge about the domestic system and have the eye to recognize hidden talent. As a result, we can expect an improved selection process and lower errors. When selection is concerned, I believe in the strategy of specialty. In every cricket system, there are players who are aggressive, defensive, attacking, moderate, experienced, and talented. Players should be assigned tasks according to their ability. Now just imagine, If Sachin Tendulakar was told to play as a power hitter late at no. 7, would he have the record he has today? Is that position representative of his ability? I might sound funny but there are players within the XI that are assigned completely wrong tasks and sometimes even against their abilities. Take Mahmudullah Riyad for example. This guy is a talented moderate top order batsman with a specialty in test cricket but until very recently had been positioned as a “power hitter” Same story with Naeem Islam and Roqibul Hasan. Players like Aftab Ahmed who is nowhere near the team but could hit better than half of the players in T20 format. This needs to be solved. With the consultancy with the coaches and senior players, individuals should be given the freedom to improve on their own specialty at the formats they are more comfortable at. I am not saying, make three different teams for three different formats but have some variations. For example, players like Aftab Ahmed, Mohammed Ashraful and Junayed Siddique should be encouraged to improve on their T20 skills and play on those formats for most of the time to have their abilities utilized to maximum. Players like Rajin Saleh, Faisal Hossain, Dhiman Ghosh, Naeem Islam, and Roqibul Hasan should concentrate more on tests and the selectors should keep a set of players in mind while picking a test squad. This is same for bowlers. A more attacking bowler like Shahadat Hossain, Rubel Hossain should be seen in tests more than in other formats while Syed Rasel, Shaiful Islam, Nazmul hossain, and Mashrafe Mortaza should be in higher consideration in ODIs and T20s. Regarding our spin attack, even though our spinners are one of the top class spinners around the world, not all the players are suitable for all formats. The first name that comes to mind is Abdur Razzaq. By far our most experienced and one of the best spinners of ODI cricket but does not have the capability to maintain that success in test format. On the other hand there are young talents like Saqlain Sajib, Sorwardi Shuvo and with some experience Enamul Huq Jnr that has enough potential to succeed in this format. It is expected our new selectors will consider these ideas soon and have a strong set of players for each format. Most of the countries do have some kind of specialty where certain players stick to their comfort zone and play on their formats. This always produces the best results from an individual player.
Goals for Future
In order to succeed at achieving something, it is very important to have a set goal. This is something we heard when we were young. It is indeed true that without a goal and determination, it is not possible to succeed in life. This also goes for Bangladesh cricket! Right now from an outsider’s point of view, it looks like Bangladesh cricket does not have any definite goal other than winning every match. There is nothing wrong there as the ultimate goal should be to win every match. However, it is crucial to have a long-term goal and keep that on mind while on the field or dressing room. For Bangladesh at the moment, it is about proving their worth! There have been questions raised by both the stronger opponents and the weaker ones. Some of the stronger opponents have expressed disappointments regarding the growth of our cricket while the associates demanded equal status and have directly challenged the test status. Right now, Bangladesh needs to answer all those questions regarding test status by playing more and more tests and trying to at least tie some. For BCB, they need to put more emphasis on test matches over ODI’s and T20 while negotiating tours with other boards. The team also needs to start working on those test match techniques and needs to improve on their duration on the ground with the bat. Right now, the goal is not to be at top but slowly climb our way in. In order to do that, Bangladesh needs to beat tough obstacles. The first step should be to build a strong lead over West Indies in both formats. It will not be easy but failing to do so will raise further questions in a few years. For the board, they must concentrate on developing the players on academy and junior level assign more trainers and coaches for that level. Bangladesh also needs to prove themselves to the associates. In order to accomplish that, BCB should arrange tours with them and let their bat and bowl do the talk. Bangladesh can also send their A team to tour the associates who will work twice more effectively if we can win. It will give our A team a chance to play at foreign conditions while answering all those questions about test status. If they set up their goal to improve as test, eventually they will mature as players and improve on resistance and consistency. BCB and the new coaching staff should also start planning for the next world cup at 2015 in Australia. Because unlike this world cup, conditions will not favour us! For now though, time for an innings win against Zimbabwe!
FTP (Future Tour Program) and Bangladesh
Bangladesh had a very easy schedule under the previous FTP. They did not have a lot of tests, few away tours and an acceptable among of ODIs. Under the new FTP (2012-2020), Bangladesh has a total of 42 test, which is a significantly higher than the last FTP. They also have 86 ODIs excluding any tournaments like World Cup, Asia Cup and so on. The numbers shows a busier schedule for the tigers but they are significantly low compared to the Top eight teams. Here is the schedule for Bangladesh in the next 8 years starting July 2011,
August 2011 - Zimbabwe, away. 1 test, 5 ODI's.
October 2011 - West Indies, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's.
December 2011 - Pakistan, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's.
March 2012 - Sri Lanka, home. 5 ODI's (additional).
April 2012 - Pakistan, away. 2 tests, 3 ODI's (moved from Aug 2010).
August 2012 - Zimbabwe, away. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 2 T20's.
------------ICC world Cup T20 (Sri Lanka)---------------
November 2012 - West Indies, home. 2 tests, 5 ODI's, 2 T20's.
March 2013 - Sri Lanka, away. 2 tests, 3 ODI's.
----------Test play-off (England)------------
October 2013 - New Zealand, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 2 T20's.
February 2014 - Sri Lanka. 2 tests. Sri Lanka and Pakistan tri-series.
---------ICC World Cup T20 (Bangladesh)------------------
May 2014 - India, home. 3 ODI's.
July 2014 - West Indies, away. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 1 T20.
October 2014 - Tri series (SL + ZIm), 2 tests with Zimbabwe.
Janruary 2015 - Pakistan, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 1 T20.
--------ICC World Cup (Australia & New Zealand)-----------------
June 2015 - India, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's.
July 2015 - South Africa, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 1 T20.
October 2015 - Australia, home. 2 tests.
January 2016 - Zimbabwe, home. 2 tests, 7 ODI's, 1 T20.
---------- ICC World Cup T20 (India)------------------------
October 2016 - England, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's.
December 2016 - New Zealand, away. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 1 T20.
February 2017 - Pakistan, away. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 1 T20.
----------Test Play-off (England)-----------------------------
October 2017 - South Africa, away. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 1 T20.
January 2018 - Sri Lanka, home. 3 ODI's.
March 2018 - West Indies, away. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 1 T20.
July 2018 - Australia, away. 2 tests, 3 ODI's.
December 2018 - West Indies, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 1 T20.
January 2019 - Zimbabwe, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's.
March 2019 - Pakistan, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 1 T20.
-------------ICC World Cup (England)----------------------------
October 2019 - New Zealand, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 1 T20.
Febuary 2020 - Sri Lanka, home. 2 tests, 3 ODI's, 1 T20.
March 2020 - Zimbabwe, away. 2 tests, 3 ODI's.
Number of tests from 2012 (June) onwards = 42 (5.25 tests a year).
Number of ODI's from 2012 (June) onwards = 86 (excluding World cups + other Tournaments).
Number of T20's from 2012 (June) onwards = 11 (excluding T20 world cup).
It’s clearly evident that Bangladesh team will have lot of extended breaks over the course of next eight years. As a result, in order to keep our boys up and running, BCB needs to be creative, adjusting and good planner. These extended breaks can heavily affect the rhythm, form, fitness of our players and as a result, BCB have to keep the boys busy. There are number things that can be done to improve these. First, Bangladesh has to talk with the cricket boards that are available during the extended breaks. They should try to organize small test and ODI series during the breaks. If all the other test playing nations are busy, than Bangladesh have no choice but to organize tours with the associates. This might actually turn in favour as it will give the star players to extend their stats and the out of form players a platform to make a comeback. The board can also experiment new players and different line ups during these Associate series. These breaks can also be used as an opportunity to improve our domestic competitions with the involvement of the national XI players. The board can also use this time to hire short term coaches and train players on specific areas. BCB can also send players to countries like England for training sessions. Overall, these breaks could be a blessing in disguise with proper planning.
Bangladesh’s fans, ex cricketer’s role
Fans have a big role to play in any sports in the world. As a fan we should support our team regardless of the result. What we have to understand is the team is very young and inexperienced and they are sensitive to criticism. However, if we keep our patience and support them, they will be a much stronger team in years to come. We are emotional as fans. It is the nature of us Bangladeshis and we cannot change that. We will always shed tears on the victory tears and express shock and outrage at loses. But let us contain our emotion to a level that it does not negatively affect the players. We are one of the best cricketing nations where fan support is concerned and we can be even better in future. This will produce only better results and give us opportunities to host more tournaments at home.
Our ex-players also have to play their part. They are the most experienced and intelligent where cricket is concerned. As a result, it is their duty to pass on their knowledge to the younger players. In order for that to happen, cooperation from them, BCB and the young players are required. They must respect and support each other at all times and work collectively to develop a better team. When players are looking shaky at a particular area, the ex-players can step up and give some advice or work with them. That is how it works everywhere else! There are times when players are struggling to handle pressure and clueless on some crucial moments! The ex-players can prepare them the best by passing on their advice and sharing their experience. For the players, regardless of the records or contributions, they should always respect the senior players and the senior players should be humble and earn that respect. It is their duty to analysis different factors but not criticize them to a point where it is no longer useful. The criticism back and forth by senior players and Shakib and coaching staff was pointless and did not contribute to anything during the world cup. This type of incidents must be avoided.
In Conclusion, Bangladesh is a very young cricketing nation and while their level might not be changing at rocket speed, they are progressing very fast. Bangladesh has some world class players and is developing a good domestic system.
Stats!
Statistics area of Bangladesh's ODI cricket:
(4.1.2010-present)
_______________________________
__*TEAM PERFORMANCE :
Match: 39 _ Won: 12 _ Lost: 24 _
Abandoned: 3 .
Highest score: 296/6
high score:
Bat 1st= 296/6 , Bat 2nd: 295/6 .
Lowest Scores: 58/10
Low scores:
Bat 1st= 58/10 , Bat 2nd= 78/10 .
Average score: 214/8
Average scores:
Bat 1st= 221/8 _ Bat 2nd= 207/7 .
Bat 1st & bowl 2nd
won= 6 _ lost= 13 .
Bat 2nd & bowl 1st
won=6 _ lost= 11
Fall of wk per match: 8
_______________________________
__*BATSMAN's PERFORMANCE :
Name Mat Run Avg H.s S.r 50/100
1. Imrul 36 1157 33 101 67 9/1
2. Tamim 32 1030 32 125 94 7/1
3. Shakib 36 998 30 106 77 7/1
4. Rahim 34 743 28 86 72 4/0
5. Junayed 23 682 31 100 67 4/1
6. Riyad 31 673 35 68* 71 3/0
7. Raqibul 19 393 21 76 60 2/0
8. Naeem 21 282 15 43 68 0/0
9. Ashraful 14 232 17 75 58 1/0
10. Nafees 9 227 25 73 64 3/0.
________________________________
__*BOWLER's PERFORMANCE:
Name Mat Ov Wk E.con Best Avg
1.Shakib 36 319 55 4.8 4/33 28
2.Razzak 31 279 40 4.7 5/30 33
3.Shafiul 32 219 39 6.3 4/21 35
4.Rubel 20 154 20 6.0 4/25 46
5.Mortaza 17 118 16 5.0 3/31 40
6.Naeem 21 128 14 4.9 3/49 45
7.Shuvo 15 116 13 4.6 3/14 41
8.Riyad 31 133 12 5.5 2/6 61
Pacer versus Spinner :
490 1000
75 136
39 36
