[Fazal]

Originally Posted by NewAgeBD
Awful Ashraful
Azad Majumder
When Moha-mmad Ashraful came on as first-change bowler against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, among the many surprised followers both in the ground and in front of television screens was also coach Shaun Williams.
‘I don’t know why he decided to bowl right now. I am really surprised,’ said Williams after he was caught by an on-field commentator during the innings. The comments of the coach made one thing sure it was not the part of the game-plan and was purely a personal decision of the captain.
But for his over-enthusiasm, one of Bangladesh’s key bowlers Abdur Razzak could not even complete his quota of four overs in the game. The same was for Sakib al Hasan, one of the regular bowlers in the Bangladesh line up.
In a game when the spinners were getting a lot of assistance from the low and slow pitch, Ashraful’s decision to rely on his occasional leg-spin instead of regular spinners was not only surprising, but also came as mystery to many back at home.
‘Razzak is one of our most dependable bowlers. Ashraful made a mistake by not using him in all four overs,’ said Faruque Ahmed, the former chief selector and national captain.
In Bangladesh’s first match against West Indies, Ashraful invited Razzak to open the bowling instead of Mashrafee bin Murtaza, despite knowing the pitch was damp and would offer plenty of movement.
His decisions did not pay off at all as Razzak conceded 12 runs in his first over, something which compelled the skipper to invite Mashrafee to replace the left-arm spinner.
When Razzak was given the ball in the first over on a damp wicket against West Indies, surprisingly he was first tried in the 14th over against Sri Lanka on a pitch that generously helped the spinners.
Faruque was also critical at the way Ashraful used his other strike bowler Mashrafee in the competition.
In the first game, Mashrafee was not only denied the new ball, but also given only two overs to bowl while Ashraful himself completed his full overs. While Mashrafee conceded 16 in his two overs, Ashraful gave away 55.
‘It’s good to see that our captain is trying to share some responsibility. But that should not be at the expense of his main strike bowler. Even if Mashrafee lacks form, the skipper should try to help him get back the rhythm. If the captain loses confidence in his strike bowler, the team tends to get demoralised,’ said Faruque.
‘Ashraful is trying to lead the team from the front, which I must say is good. But it will better for him to take the leading role with the bat instead of ball. The team management also should be careful of the skipper’s increasing tendency to bowl,’ he added.

Assuming its true....

Looks like temp coach Shaun Williams is less to blame for the team's failure. Its the inability of BCB to find a permanent coach, and Ash's disregard to follow game-plan or Coach's instruction is the key to this chaos situation. Temp assigned coach can never enforce their authority to key star players, and if Key star players ignore coach's instruction, basically he becomes a lame duck coach... and thats what is happening now. Ash is doing whatever he whans to do... and that may include .... bolwing 4 overs by himself ignore key bowlers....ignoring Juniad so far...


Its sad.... if its true.... its not a good trait ... ignoring coahes's instruction or game plan.