Dizzy
December 7, 2007, 04:03 AM
A mishit indeed!
Mohammad Isam
For the third time in his career, Shahriar Nafees hurried back to form as soon as a team that he could have been part of was selected, without him being in it.
In yesterday's National Cricket League match against hosts Chittagong, Barisal captain Nafees struck 108 in almost four hours of batting that featured 16 boundaries.
The hundred came less than 24 hours after he was dropped from the Bangladesh side for the one-day series in New Zealand, starting later this month. The selectors sounded almost helpless while explaining his exclusion, which came about due to his collection of a meagre 173 runs in ten innings.
Early in his career, Nafees was dropped from the Bangladesh under-19 squad for World Cup 2004 that was held in Bangladesh. A few days later, Nafees hit back with 101 against the Indian under-19s in a warm-up game of the tournament.
This year, Nafees was omitted from the national one-day side after having a poor run in the Test series in Sri Lanka and the World Cup in the West Indies.
Within hours of hearing the announcement, he struck a half-century in the second innings of the third Test. He was later kept for the ODIs, only to make way for Javed Omar in the last match of the tour.
“As far as the call-up was concerned, it is a bit late but as a batsman it is never too late to get runs especially when I was not in form,” admitted Nafees when asked of his mistiming.
The fact is that it is fast becoming a tendency for him to do such things and Nafees said that he is aware of it and took heart from the selectors' words.
“They said that my ability is not in question, rather the lack of runs. I hope that this would help me get into the Test team but definitely I would also like to get back to the ODI setup as well,” he said.
It could be judged as some kind of a motivational, backs-to-the-wall situation, but what Nafees has gradually made into a routine can be best described as 'only wakes up when he is out in the cold'.
Such is his slump in form that one tends to forget that in September 2006, he was adjudged the cricketer-of-the-year in the BCB Awards Night and was also decorated as the Prothom Alo player-of-the-year.
To call it a fall from grace is apt but Nafees has time and talent in hand. He should bring out some of that grit he showed yesterday more often, especially before the selectors sit and look at the cold hard facts.
Mohammad Isam
For the third time in his career, Shahriar Nafees hurried back to form as soon as a team that he could have been part of was selected, without him being in it.
In yesterday's National Cricket League match against hosts Chittagong, Barisal captain Nafees struck 108 in almost four hours of batting that featured 16 boundaries.
The hundred came less than 24 hours after he was dropped from the Bangladesh side for the one-day series in New Zealand, starting later this month. The selectors sounded almost helpless while explaining his exclusion, which came about due to his collection of a meagre 173 runs in ten innings.
Early in his career, Nafees was dropped from the Bangladesh under-19 squad for World Cup 2004 that was held in Bangladesh. A few days later, Nafees hit back with 101 against the Indian under-19s in a warm-up game of the tournament.
This year, Nafees was omitted from the national one-day side after having a poor run in the Test series in Sri Lanka and the World Cup in the West Indies.
Within hours of hearing the announcement, he struck a half-century in the second innings of the third Test. He was later kept for the ODIs, only to make way for Javed Omar in the last match of the tour.
“As far as the call-up was concerned, it is a bit late but as a batsman it is never too late to get runs especially when I was not in form,” admitted Nafees when asked of his mistiming.
The fact is that it is fast becoming a tendency for him to do such things and Nafees said that he is aware of it and took heart from the selectors' words.
“They said that my ability is not in question, rather the lack of runs. I hope that this would help me get into the Test team but definitely I would also like to get back to the ODI setup as well,” he said.
It could be judged as some kind of a motivational, backs-to-the-wall situation, but what Nafees has gradually made into a routine can be best described as 'only wakes up when he is out in the cold'.
Such is his slump in form that one tends to forget that in September 2006, he was adjudged the cricketer-of-the-year in the BCB Awards Night and was also decorated as the Prothom Alo player-of-the-year.
To call it a fall from grace is apt but Nafees has time and talent in hand. He should bring out some of that grit he showed yesterday more often, especially before the selectors sit and look at the cold hard facts.