A Major Problem

[fwullah]

I think that we have a major problem on our hands. In fact, it has been bugging me for quite a while.

You see if we have the following line up of final eleven in the match against Canada and Kenya (well - may be we can pull out a victory against Canada with either of the following lineup in this topic and the next topic - but what about against Kenya?) -

1) Hannan
2) Rokon
3) Ashraful - part time leggie
4) Sumon
5) Sanwar - part time offie
6) Kapali - part time leggie
7) Pilot - wk
8) Sujon - seamer, all rounder/ Rafique - spinner, but a tail ender
9) Tapash - pacer, but a tail ender
10) Monju - pacer, but not a very good tail ender at all
11) Talha - pacer, even worst tail ender than Monju

- Then we have a manage-able top and middle order, but look at the bowling order. if we have either Rafique or Sujon as our forth bowler, and use Ashraful, Kapali and Sanwar as the 5th bowler, then we have this problem with the 5th bowler being way too expensive. And if 1 of our 4 specialist bowlers gets hammered against Kenya, then we are done for.

Also there is another problem with this line up. If we play Rafique instead of Sujon, then if a top order collapse happens, then we have upto number 7 - upto Pilot who can save us, but there is nothing after that - nothing at all.

Rafique is no muck with the bat alright, but problem with him is that he is not a certainty with the bat - he can't save us if we are say 6 or 7 down for a score of just over a 100.

But if we have Sujon, then we have a proper batsman at even number 8 who can both save us from an early collapse as well as hammer the opposition bowlers at the same time.

There is also this recent problem that I am foreseeing - its regarding Tapash. We all remember he scored 35, and over 20 runs in 3 matches in South Africa, but since then, he hasn't scored much. Also, if you notice it carefully, you will be able to see that he has turned out to be a better bowler - so may be he is paying attention to his bowling a lot than his batting. And if this happens in the world cup too, then we have batsman - who might score runs is upto number 8. After that, there is nobody.

[fwullah]

In addition to that, if we have the following final eleven -

1) Hannan
2) Rokon
3) Sumon
4) Sanwar
5) Kapali
6) Pilot
7) Sujon
8) Rafique
9) Tapash
10) Monju
11) Talha

then we are short of a specialist batsman in the top. It is true if this is the line up for the match against Kenya, then we have a very strong bowling line up, but for the above mentioned reason of Sujon, Rafique and Tapash, we have even a weaker batting line up.

In this case, our savior is upto number 7 too.

[fwullah]

Tehsin, you were saying in one topic that you are worried for Sujon's bowling as the Kenyans might go after him, well the same case can happen in case of Talha Jubair.

We know that Talha is very young, very fast, but what happens if he doesn't find his rythm straight away? What if he does not maintain a good line and length like in most cases - in most of his spells that he plays in the test matches?

Yes - he can give us quick wickets, but what if the price per wicket for Talha (or for that matter any other bowler) is just too much? I know that this is not the place to worry about that NOW.

Also, we have another worry for our inexperienced top order consisting of Hannan, Rokon and Ashraful (yes - Rokon too). We don't know how much - exactly how much that the Kenyan bowlers have improved, we only know that Martin Suji will bowl a real tight line and length, we know that Odoyo is a wicket - taker, and Odumbe is a good AND EXPERIENCED spinner.

But all in all, the Kenyans don't have a problem with the problem that we might be facing - Talha being too expensive and part timers like Ashraful and Kapali also being too expensive.

[Zobair]

fahmida..
where is masri in your eleven?!

[rafiq]

I know this is an old post, but i am really worried that you could hurt yourself worrying over this when you should be relaxing now that the New Year is around the corner...

how about the following lineup featuring 4 pacers:

hannan
rokon
ashraful
sumon
sanwar
kapali
pilot
tapash
masri
manju
talha

sanwar is not expensive from the few overs we have seen him bowl. ashraful is developing a knack of taking a few wickets after the 40th over even if he gets hit a lot. with 3 spinners, we could really play 4 pacers if the pitch dictates. i know we will miss sujon's batting and rafique's tight bowling, but if the 4 pacers can strike some fear into the hearts of the weaker teams, i say let it rain!

against the more experienced teams, it may be prudent to shore up the batting some more with sujon or rafique.

[fwullah]

Pompous I think Talha and Masri are the same when I wrote the eleven. That's why I didn't think it necessary to include Masri's name - since we also don't know his fitness condition too well yet.

Rafiq, I think Masri is even a better hitter / lower order batsman than Tapash now. That's what is worrying about your eleven.

I can't stop worrying, since none of the top and middle order (from 1 to 5) are dependable enough.