[Sham]

what strategy we employed with our batting line-up in this Test series!

lets take a look at what went on:

so they take Kapali in the first test. he scores 22 runs in two innings and gets out to two controversial decisions. now even I as a a Kapali fan said that I don't know what he did to get back into the Test side, but if you are going to take a player, you need to atleast give him 2 or 3 matches to prove himself. that is even more important when you know that the guy has been unlucky. but they decide to drop him for the second match.

as rajin was in the top 12 for the first test and obviously lost out to Kapali for the last batting spot, the expectation surely was that if Kapali gets dropped, Rajin would be picked. but no! they keep Rajin as 12th man, and Rahim comes from outside the 12 straight into the 11! so why was he not in the 12 for the first match and what has he done right and Rajin done wrong in the 3 days between the first and second test?

did they keep rajin as 12th man for his fieldind? but if that were the case, surely they would have picked Aftab!

so, what did the guys get out of this?

Kapali - came in and went out again without doing anything. Its a bit unfortunate. mypoint is: either take the guy and give him some time to settle back into cricket. or dont take him at all! bringing him back for one match every other series is neither helping him nor our team!

Rajin: gotta be wondering what on earth is going on and where he fits into this team!

Rahim: poor guy, you cant help but feel sorry for him! Scored two runs in two innings and then missed a stumping chance! the guy has actually dont everything right so far as a 17 year old, but the selectors and some of the members of this board are now on a mission to kill his career by throwing him at the deep end before he has the maturity or the first class experience to handle it.

Aftab: i dont even know what to say about his exclusion!

and lastly, the more I see Shahriar Nafees bat, the more I think that he needs to see a batting coach and work on his technique. he is uncomfortable against the short ball and has a tendency to drive without any footwork when he is given a bit of width. definitely not good enough for an opener and i'm not sure whether thats good enough for a middle order batsman at this level either! and his two second innings dismissals were shockers! here is another "typical bd batsman who throws away his wicket at first opportunity" in the making!

Edited on, March 10, 2006, 11:54 AM GMT, by Sham.