Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe Test Series Preview
The wait is finally over! This long break for Bangladesh cricket fans is about to end. The tigers are returning to action in Harare from August 4th. Even though it’s a test series between the bottom table Bangladesh and returning Zimbabwe, the tension is high and the intensity is building. While it’s a battle to save the test status and stay alive in the competition for Bangladesh, Zimbabwe seeks reassurance that their wait and dedication paid off. Both the teams have to make an impression on ICC while paying back their supporters and give them something to be proud of. So, let’s recall how Bangladesh has been preparing!
Bangladesh played their last against England at Old Trafford which ended in June 6th, 2010. It’s been almost 14 months since our tigers walked out with all white jersey. After such a long break, now it seems how valuable those white jerseys are and how proud we feel when we see our tigers walking out of the dressing room wearing them. But pride comes in heavy price and the privilege is also not for granted. Having won only 3 games in the entire 10 years of test cricket, Bangladesh’s reputation is shaky. With various criticism and argument regarding the test status by some cricket “Guru”, the road is clear that either Bangladesh starts winning matches fair and square or leave just like Zimbabwe did few years ago.
But let’s not be so negative yet. Even though Bangladesh did not manage to win any test match last year, they certainly made a better impression and occasionally dominated certain times in different matches. Most importantly, Bangladesh made those gurus from England & India stop wondering about the test status for a while by putting up a good fight against these 2 teams last year. So what kept them from sealing it? How close were they? Let’s recall what happened!
If you have no clue about what happened in those tests last year, as a Bangladeshi fan, you would probably think that it was the batting that let to our downfall. But Alas no! Compared to the previous years, last year Bangladesh saw a fairly consistent and average batting attack. The problem was bowling. With No Mashrafe Mortaza and a lack of a partner for Shakib in spin department, the bowling attack was a blessing for every team we faced last year. On the test match coming up, the problem is no different and perhaps even worse! No I am not exaggerating at all! With no Mashrafe, Shahadat our pace attack is experience less and unpredictable. Even worse the available pacers are not all 100% fit. Like always we could seek reassurance from our spin department but the surface won’t allow us because this is not Bangladesh and Zimbabwe is no mine field. Whats more, 2 of our spinners Shakib and Razzaq aren’t even at top form either! However, so far in the practice series, we seem to be getting good vibes. Our pace attack looked deadly consisting Shafiul, Robiul and Nazmul. Shakib, Riyad were not tested at all but still the tigers stopped the Zimbabwe attack for a very cheap score. This is definitely a relief but the question remains, can they continue their feat through the actual test? Remains to be seen :)
So we are done about bowling. Or batting looks fairly strong and consistent but yet unpredictable. So much depends on our star Tamim Iqbal that it is almost too much to expect from him. Hopefully our other stars Imrul, Nafees, Riyad, Shakib and Mushfiq will be there to assist and play their part. We also have our old hero Ashraful back in and is likely to make the squad. With his poor performance and his everlasting scoring drought, we can only hope for a miracle. Overall, our batsmen should outscore the opposition given the strong batting attack and the favorable surface. The batting failure in the 3 day test match is certainly not representative of their abilities. The 42 hour journey, jetlag, significant change in temperature and long forgotten condition contributed to the collapse in both innings for the Tigers. A comeback in the actual test wouldn’t be a surprise!
Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe ODI Series Preview
Bangladesh will be resuming their ODI rivalry with Zimbabwe this year with the first ODI on August 12th, 2011. Bangladesh will be looking to regain their confidence in their batting and bowling after some poor performances in the World Cup and the home series against Australia in April. On the other hand, Zimbabwe will be looking to win a series for the first time in a while against their once-upon-a-time rival Bangladesh.
Although the meetings between these two teams are often called rivalry matches, Bangladesh has long since outgrown their 'supposed' rivals Zimbabwe. In the recent years, Bangladesh have won all of their ODI series against Zimbabwe, despite stumbles in one or two matches. Bangladesh's progress in ODIs took a leap when they completed a whitewash against New Zealand at home in 2010 without their ace bowler Mashrafe Mortaza and their ace batsman Tamim Iqbal. In light of these performances, Bangladesh can certainly claim the 'favourite' label for themselves. However, before they can do so, they will have to overcome their poor performances in the World Cup and the home series against Australia. Bangladesh has often been accused of temperamental issues and collapsing under pressure and they proved these accusations right through their poor scores of 58 and 78 against West Indies and South Africa in the ICC World Cup 2011 in front of their home crowd. That's why, it will be a challenge for them in this series to try and prove these accusations wrong and dominate the series against Zimbabwe with comprehensive wins.
The wickets at Harare Sports Club and Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo promise to be absolutely bouncy, swing-friendly and built for pace bowlers. This will prove to be quite a challenge for Bangladeshi batsmen, who didn't have any matches or practices in pace-friendly pitches since the England tour last year. Even still, they are expected to fire with their best batsman Tamim Iqbal confident and itching to get a piece of the Zimbabwe bowlers after his strong show against the England bowlers in the aforementioned England tour. Furthermore, they have packed a surprise package for themselves in the names of batsman Shuvagoto Hom and all-rounder Nasir Hossain, who have zero international games against them, but promise to be a huge asset for Bangladesh in the coming years. Hopefully, they will be able to fire as well, and give the now-looking-weak middle order of Bangladesh a strong boost, provided that they win a spot over Bangladesh Cricket Board's hugely favourite, hugely underperforming ASS-ra-FOOL. However, the team will not be performing well only by depending on Tamim and expecting the debutants to fire, while the other batsmen in the team continue to be out-of-form in a long-term-analysis. Bangladesh fans will have to hope, though, that performances shown by Imrul Kayes and Shahriar Nafees in the World Cup and series against Australia point towards a start of a good form that will last for a while. Even Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim showed some signs of being an asset of Bangladesh in the recent series, and whether they can keep it up remains to be seen. The biggest worry of Bangladesh, batting-wise, is the poor form of their captain Shakib Al Hasan, whose batting form has taken a dive to the floor in the recent matches. Bowling-wise, their worries are certainly big, since their strongest weapon in ODIs, spin-attack, would hardly work on pitches that offer nothing for spinners. That's why, the performances of Shakib and Abdur Razzak, their front-line spinners, would be something to look out for, to see how they cope with a situation such as this. Since their ace pacer Mashrafe would not be able to help them here, how they use the pace-friendly pitch of Harare and Bulawayo with young pacers Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain, long-time-out-of-the-team Nazmul Hossain, and expected debutant Robiul Islam is also another thing to keep an eye for.
Although Bangladesh will be marked as favorites in this series by many, these challenges that they have to overcome will certainly make this series an interesting one.
By: Rinat Haque Niloy & Rayun Mehrab
