Test Series: What should be the goal?

[Ahmed_B]

The fact that Mashrafee is being taken out of the Test series will surely weaken the BD bowling strength pretty much. Rafiq remains to be the only bowler in the squad who is experienced enough to make an impression. All the others will remain to be experimental and will take half the time to adjust themselves to the series. So it can be said pretty honestly that we can't really depend on our bowling to perform well in the test series.

So it will rather be our batting that may put us to an appreciable level. The team should target to put a very good batting show in both tests and thus try to push the tests towards draw.

And we can think about winning only if our bowlers perform very well on some occassions. But in general.. the theme should be to bat very well and specially players like Bashar/Nafees/JO/Aftab/Ash/Mushfiq should try to play stable and long innings.

The team is in a confident form and they should take full advantage of the weaker SL bowling and try to have a better test series this time.

Edited on, February 26, 2006, 2:09 PM GMT, by Ahmed_B.

[fwullah]

SL bowling is not weaker - they'll be much stronger with Muralitharan joining in.

[sadi]

yep really worried about our bowling... battingwise, cant really depend on the likes of ash, aftab or bashar... anything can happen with them... specially aftab... I still haven't seen anything special from him in test matches...

[Warlock]

The realistic goals should be,
1. From the team point of view- try to take both the matches at least to the 4th day. If we get a good batting wicket, and if we can build a couple of good partnerships then may be... may be... we can hope to draw a test (too many "if"s). Looking at the bright side- we don't have to worry about Murali.
2. From players' personal point of view- One/ hopefully two centuries from our batters. Bashar should try to get a 100. Ashraful should try to make two fifties- if he fails to score a century.
3. Our openers- Golla will do his best, that we know. But how about Shahriar Nafees? His performance in the ODIs was nothing much. Is he having a lean patch? Or is it the "burning away after showing a lot of promise" symptom haunting him like a lot of others before him?
4. Bowling- Good luck to Rafique, he is our old warhorse. I would personally prefer to see Shahadat picked up ahead of Taposh. Shahadat will probably be clobbered merrily all around the field by both the "Jaya"s, but that can't be helped. I, somehow, am finding it difficult to forget Taposh's outrageous performance in the 3rd ODI. I for one firmly believe he was one of the reason's we lost that match.

[TheWatcher]

A draw will be really nice, the main goal of BD team should be to push the match into the fifth day. I am not expecting much from the team as a whole, rather looking forward to some good individual performances.

[Ahmed_B]

OPS.. really had forgotten about Murali! Yes he's going to be some factor, no doubt.

BTW... I've been feeling all the time, that for a team like BD... the theme-song for improving in tests should be that every player(both batsmen and bowlers) should be very very selfish and think only about their own imroved stats and figures. Batsmen should only care about getting a very high average in 4 innings that they will play... bowlers should only care about their own economy and strike-rates.. and nothing more!

After all... the goal of Test matches is judge each players ultimate capacity! (plus the team also.. but that still comes second for BD)

[Duck]

Originally posted by TheWatcher
A draw will be really nice, the main goal of BD team should be to push the match into the fifth day. I am not expecting much from the team as a whole, rather looking forward to some good individual performances.

Agree with you........
But in reality, we will lose both the game within three days. After losing the 2nd ODI, SL will not give any chances for us to take. They wont show any mercy for anykind. I am now worried about our bowlers! They will definitely mess things up. Since SL batsmen are already acclimatized with the conditions of BD wickets (after coming from Aus), they will punish us and want to finish the job within 3 days and take rest! Sad but true.

[sadi]

batting is our only hope... hopefully this time, we will see some good performance from the likes of ash, aftab, or bashar... I will watch shahriar nafees very closely though... his perfomance in the odi series wasn't impressive and it will be interesting to see how he copes with pressure now...

[Duck]

[quote]Originally posted by Ahmed_B

.... every player(both batsmen and bowlers) should be very very selfish and think only about their own imroved stats and figures.


Yap, this should be the real moto.........

[Duck]

Originally posted by sadi
... I will watch shahriar nafees very closely though... his perfomance in the odi series wasn't impressive and it will be interesting to see how he copes with pressure now...

I am really worried about Shahriar Nafees.........his flashing tendency off the wicket. Having a long slip cordon in test, it would be matter of time to perish in style!

[sadi]

what should be the goal?

Taking the game into 5th day would be nice.
First innings score of atleast 400.
Don't let them score more than 300 anyday.
Couple of centuries from our star batsmen like Ash, Aftab or Bashar.

[Hegar]

I think for the game to go into a 4th or 5th day would be good and for some runs from the batsman. A good fielding performance will help our bowlers and give them confidence that they need to knock over Sri Lanka.

[IanW]

Bowl well, in the zone both for line and length.

Keep it there, tease the batsman, and get some swing and/or turn to take wickets with.

Bat sensibly, in 20-30 run chunks. Dont play rash shots, but hit balls that are there to be hit. Play as partners, hit singles, farm the strike.

Field sharply, take catches, keep the pressure on with good throws and clean groundfielding.

Do those things and success will follow.

A thousand mile journey is a whole lot of single steps.

Process not outcomes.

Ian Whitchurch

[fy288]

Agree with earlier comments that BD should make a fist of the test series as they are playing at home with alot of domestic cricket also under their belts, survivng until 5th day and making opposition bat twice is what BD should start doing regularly

A draw would be nice but it hurts to say that sri will probably win 1st test by innings and 2nd by 300 runs, hope BD prove may prediction wrong as do i, inshallah they do well.

PS: dont know if this has been mentioned but is Rahim going to play as specialist batsmen, as pilot bit out of touch?

Edited on, February 27, 2006, 11:54 AM GMT, by fy288.

[6alltheway]

our target is simple, PLAY THE BLOODY 5 DAYS, i dont want to see 3 or 2 days of test cricket. Also try to PLAY 2 INNINGS AT LEAST. and force the match to draw or something.

i have now doubt we will loose, but its only by how much. GO BD

[Tigers_eye]

I think this is one of the best threads I have read/seen in BC. That includes a lot of threads. Each every post is realistic, and thoughtful. Well done guys/gals.

I would be if i can watch the match without buffering in Friday night.

[Cricket46]

I cannot see Bangladesh even coming out with a single draw in these 2 tests. Unless of course, our spinners do a miracle and/or the batsmen bat extraordinarily well. Those are two BIG assumptions, however, not impossible. So my realistic goal would be to see them taking the tests to the 5th days. That would be a BIG achievement. When did we last do that against a major test playing nation? In more detail, I would be happy if we do some of the following.

1. Score around 250-300 in each innings
2. DO NOT lose
a. by an innings or 10 wickets
b. or by more than 150+ runs
3. In general, stress on solid, rather than flashy batting. To me, something like 200 for 5 in a whole day (not attractive, I know) is much better than being all out for 180 in 2 sessions. I know it sounds very defensive, but remember a test match is played over a maximum of 15 sessions. Our batsmen cannot flirt with the balls outside the off stump, until and unless they start to see the ball like a football (not the American one).
4. Our bowling is very thin even with Mashrafee, and much thinner without him. So much will depend on Rafiq and Enamul. They have to attack and also bowl defensively as needed.
5. DO NOT drop sitters. Fielding is often the distant 3rd cousin in a cricket match. However, those who have followed/played this game for a long time know how important it can be. And of course raising fielding standards is easier than improving batting or bowling standards. Just as an example, Pakistan used to have very good batsmen and bowlers even during the 70s and 80s but could never win much. And one of the reasons was their atrocious fielding. Sometimes the only way to dislodge a set batsman is to run him out or even better, frustrate him by stopping his blinder shots.
6. What do we do against Murali I don’t know, may be someone else can answer that.

The above might sound negative, but I think it is more realistic than some people might think. Besides, these are only my opinion. Feel free to comment on these.

[betaar]

With recent performances one can only hope and pray what will happen to the BD batting performance. The only thing that’s certain is the uncertainty of our batting. Bowling being already weekend by Mashrafi’s exclusion, I don’t see any realistic chance of getting positive result out of the tests. Since there’s nothing to bank on, BD should only focus on getting the basics done right.

I think the appropriate approach should be to plan session by session and try to succeed with a game plan. Our batsmen cannot focus on a long term goal, so they should just focus on short span of time or 7-10 overs and concentrate on their own performance which may sound selfish but will benefit the team to occupy the crease and accumulate runs. In tests, bowlers win and batsmen save matches for you. Going for quick runs would be a bad idea, in tests scoring at a fast pace is not going to work unless you have good bowling to support that with.

[oracle]

Batting will be the decider/not bowling.

The number one priority for the first test would be to see that our top order not only survives but is capable of pacing the innings and handling spinners. Murali is not in top form and I doubt he will emulate the success that we see in his home grounds. The contest between Murali and Ash + Murali and JO will be crucial. I hope both these batsmen will come thru with a solid performance.

Edited on, February 27, 2006, 5:00 PM GMT, by oracle.

[howzatt!]

we should score atleast 300 runs every innings. we are capabe of doing it if ashraful and bashar show some maturity. since we are targeting a 5 day match or draw rather than a win, JO can stay on the wicket as long as he wants with a strike rate below 25. shahriar nafees needs to score some runs too. he disappointed us in ODIs. facing murali would be tough. ashraful and probably bashar are two batsmen who can face murali well. so, they have to stay in the middle and for quite a while. a century and a couple of half centuries and a few 20s and 30s would easily take us to 300+ score. i'm relying on Jo to score a 50, either bashar or ashraul should score a 100 and the other atleast 50. either of the nafees's should score a 50 too. kapali, pilot, rafique can chip in 20s and 30s.

[Nasif]

Goal:
Innings 1: Don't get all out for 95
Innings 2: Don't get all out again for 95.

[Ajfar]

But in reality, we will lose both the game within three days. After losing the 2nd ODI, SL will not give any chances for us to take. They wont show any mercy for anykind. I am now worried about our bowlers! They will definitely mess things up. Since SL batsmen are already acclimatized with the conditions of BD wickets (after coming from Aus), they will punish us and want to finish the job within 3 days and take rest! Sad but true. [/quote]


u really shudn't see bangladesh's win against srilanka as a gift from srilanka?? bangladesh players worked really hard for it... when ever something unexpected happen people always say they weren't playiing seriously... well too bad maybe they shoud have..but that doesn't mean u shudn't give bangladesh credit... i think bangladesh team's goal shud be going for higher individual score.. carrying out the inning for a long time....but bowling is our main weakness without masrafi.. hopefully someone will make up for him but most likely not. everyone will be looking up to rafique and hopefully enamul haque jr. can give a lil hand he's pretty gud..

[Fazal]

What should be the goal?

Based on the team they selected, my goal is to:

1) Wish I: stretch the game to 3rd day
2) Wish II: Avoid humiliating innings defeat.



Edited on, February 27, 2006, 10:53 PM GMT, by Fazal.

[Ahmed_B]

Originally posted by Fazal
What should be the goal?

Based on the team they selected, my goal is to:

1) Wish I: stretch the game to 3rd day
2) Wish II: Avoid humiliating innings defeat.

Your wishes for the first Test are more than fulfilled!

Any more wishes for the 2nd one?

[sar2005]

BD Goal for the 2nd test.

BD 1st Innings - Bat for 4 sessions
SL 1st Innings - Stop easy runs. Control the scroe always.
BD 2nd Innings - Bat for 4 sessions
SL 2nd Innings - Don't give away easy runs.