fwullah
April 16, 2003, 11:24 AM
At last there is something written on Bangladesh on a foreign media that has some base.
Clearly the Amit Vama guy has done some research before writing off Bangladesh completely.
Look at these words "That would not have been so frowned upon had Bangladesh not been a Test team. But after being outclassed in every international encounter in the recent past, they finally showed some spunk here, making their second 200-plus score in a row, and taking six Indian wickets after that. That the landmark of passing 200 should be so celebrated is itself an indication of how far Bangladesh had fallen.
What has changed? For one thing, Bangladesh reversed a recent trend in their selection; of focussing only on youngsters. Bangladesh age-group cricket is vibrant, and a policy of building a team for the future cannot really be argued with. But an abrupt transition can be counter-productive, and Bangladesh have thrown too many callow youngsters into the deep end too soon in recent times.
They dropped a number of their senior players for the World Cup, which was all well and good - it was time for some of them, like Aminul Islam and Naimur Rahman, to go. But Akram Khan, until he was called into the squad due to injury, was also axed, and gritty veterans like Habibul Bashar and Khaled Mahmud also found it hard to get into the playing XI. Mehrab Hossain, a 23-year-old who had made Bangladesh's only one-day century, against Zimbabwe in 1998, at the age of 20, was also not in the plans.
This is not to suggest that these four men are world-class players, but they all have a quality that has been sorely lacking in Bangladesh cricket over the last few months - combativeness. Now that all of them are back, and others like Mohammad Ashraful are also showing spine, the team doesn't look quite as pathetic. "
Wisden - Verdict (http://www-usa.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/APR/170415_CI_16APR2003.html)
Clearly the Amit Vama guy has done some research before writing off Bangladesh completely.
Look at these words "That would not have been so frowned upon had Bangladesh not been a Test team. But after being outclassed in every international encounter in the recent past, they finally showed some spunk here, making their second 200-plus score in a row, and taking six Indian wickets after that. That the landmark of passing 200 should be so celebrated is itself an indication of how far Bangladesh had fallen.
What has changed? For one thing, Bangladesh reversed a recent trend in their selection; of focussing only on youngsters. Bangladesh age-group cricket is vibrant, and a policy of building a team for the future cannot really be argued with. But an abrupt transition can be counter-productive, and Bangladesh have thrown too many callow youngsters into the deep end too soon in recent times.
They dropped a number of their senior players for the World Cup, which was all well and good - it was time for some of them, like Aminul Islam and Naimur Rahman, to go. But Akram Khan, until he was called into the squad due to injury, was also axed, and gritty veterans like Habibul Bashar and Khaled Mahmud also found it hard to get into the playing XI. Mehrab Hossain, a 23-year-old who had made Bangladesh's only one-day century, against Zimbabwe in 1998, at the age of 20, was also not in the plans.
This is not to suggest that these four men are world-class players, but they all have a quality that has been sorely lacking in Bangladesh cricket over the last few months - combativeness. Now that all of them are back, and others like Mohammad Ashraful are also showing spine, the team doesn't look quite as pathetic. "
Wisden - Verdict (http://www-usa.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/APR/170415_CI_16APR2003.html)