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Originally Posted by AsifTheManRahman
Thank you Shakib, thank you thank you thank you. He hasn't said anything we don't already know or haven't seen with our own eyes, but it's refreshing to hear it coming out of a player's mouth. I think there is no doubt now that our players are very much to blame for our pusillanimous performances. Not enough coaches, not enough matches, not enough pitches - excuses excuses. You have to be passionate about what you do to begin with. Where's the fire? Forget about pride of playing for the country, how do you look at yourself in the mirror and justify what you've done at the end of the day? This is something that I haven't heard any other player in the team talk about and I wouldn't be surprised if they don't feel the same way. It's my favorite part of the interview, i.e. where Shakib says he was especially fired up for the second game because he had failed in the first and needed to prove something to himself. Compare that to the other sissies in the squad who are just out there to satisfy the selectors and do the bare minimum to secure a spot in the team. No concept of setting standards for oneself.
If guys from Afghanistan and Ireland can show so much passion and urgency in the field, why can't these guys who get paid more and have access to better facilities?
I don't care that he doesn't go to practice if he doesn't want to if he can come back and score like he did against Pakistan. If the staff thinks there's a disciplinary problem there then it's up to them to fix it. As a fan, all I want to see are results.
As for his comments on not being able to become as good as Mendis, well Mendis doesn't do jack with the bat. Shakib is an all-rounder and if he does become as good as Swann some day, I'd more than just take it. Mendis/Warne have the luxury of bowling in the nets 24/7, while Shakib has to bowl AND bat. Considering this, the fact that he's set his eyes on Swann is actually a very good thing and he's set the bar high enough for himself. We all know a team needs very good specialist bowlers to complement its all-rounders, it's a no-brainer. He can't do everything himself.
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Yes, thanks to Shakib for speaking it out. I was in the ground and have written it a few times in this forum even. This was the only painful thing to watch..
I couldn't believe that the players were watching the ball and giving up a few meters away, players taking a good 2/3 seconds before taking off for a chase, players were utterly sluggish in everything in the field. Difference was so clear that many Srilankans watching was commenting on that too... After the second match actually I was so shocked that I tried to forget about the matches and took a hectic program to travel around Srilanka to forget it and to make my trip worth.
All the guys in the boundary lines were sluggish... You can rarely find dives by our players in the boundary lines... Against Pakistan I recon about 5/7 occasions where boundaries could have been prevented if they took off early and put in a dive... At least, may be more.
I'm really happy that Shakib spoke it out and this area needs serious attention... I don't know what's the fielding coach doing. He needs to gear up his efforts or quit his job. We don't need such useless coaches. I have not much complain on any other department, as much I have on fielding. This department has laid us down, I don't know how much of it has been captured by the camera, since I haven't watched, but that's my opinion with my infield experience.