Ittefaq said

[fwullah]

According to today's Ittefaq, Bulbul, Akram and Nannu should still be in our team. And others like Sumon, Rokon and Golla should be playing around them.

Do you agree?

I think that because players like Bulbul and Akram hung around for too long as middle order batsman (in one day cricket) and because of that, our batting is so weak now.

Its true that players like Sumon and Pilot have followed in their footsteps now, but because of our previous selectors' and our players' (Rokon and Durjoy) inability to take on the responsibility given by Bulbul and Akram, have really hampered our progress in establishing a good batting line up.

Rokon was forced into being an opener when we already had players like Opee and Golla still playing, instead of letting him being a replacement for Akram Khan. And still now, Rokon is suffering because of being a make-shift opener now.

And Naimur was supposed to replace Bulbul in the middle order but because of his impatience and failure to turn his little knocks into fifties and hundreds, the whole Bangladesh team is suffering, as new and more young players who are also much inexperienced like Alok Kapali, Tushar Imran and Md. Ashraful has to come in.

[Miran]

I can't go along with that article. These players have had their day. Even the one who's most likely to make any kind of impact (Nannu) is really too old by now - though I haven't forgotten how he saved us from looking like complete idiots in the last World Cup.

I can't see any alternative to sticking with the younger players and gritting our teeth as the hammerings continue. At least with them there's a prospect (however dim that prospect may be) that they WILL improve in future. The problem about the oldies is that they just don't have many playing years left anymore. There are always exceptions of course. England's Graham Gooch was one. He hardly scored any international runs before his thirty-fifth birthday. But then he managed to keep going for so long because he was a fitness fanatic. Our senior players aren't really as dedicated in that repect.