Ashraful's knock: sufficient or deficient???

[al Furqaan]

36.2


Lewis to Mohammad Ashraful, OUT, big wicket! Ashraful has thrown it away. Tossed it up outside off and he chips it straight down long-off's throat, Dale Richards takes it comfortably and West Indies have fought back, loose shot and he pays the price, could that be turning point?


Mohammad Ashraful c Richards b Lewis 64 (77b 3x4 1x6) SR: 83.11

Shakib was livid at his partner for playing that, and rightly so for that was totally unnecessary under the circumstances. Bangladesh were coasting, and the wicket has pegged them back, giving the home team a sniff.

Mushfiqur comes in. The pressure is back on. We've seen such senseless play from Ashraful before. For a man of his experience, it's not acceptable.

Ashraful's dismissal left BD at 190-4, still 85 runs to get from 13+ overs...6 wickets, and 4 batsmen left in the game.

question: should ashraful be blamed for nearly losing the match, or not taking it past the "event horizon" so to speak?

or is it OK to rely on the other specialist batsman/all-rounders to make their contributions?

opine/rant/discuss.

[Ashfaq]

Well one must rely on his team mates to pick up the slack, otherwise the pressure would be too much.

I think whatever brownie points Ash stacked for his sensible innings (up to that), considering this is very rare for him to score successive 50s, would be atleast 50% reduced for throwing away his wicket.

Though he deserves applause for steadying the boat with Rock and for stepping it up with Shak.

Now lets see what happens now.

Does this shot indicate his return to ura-Dhura mode?

Will he play sensibly again?

[sbsash]

Ashraful did his part.A 64 isn't easy to score you know and for some people its hard to play defensively.

[Zeeshan]

sufficient...shak also got out trying to relieve the pressure as Ash did. a batsman sometimes have to take risk to look for the long run...

[Sauron]

Deficient. Shakib was definitely looking to finish it off with Ash's help. Shak was very disgusted at Ash's style of dismissal and I can totally see why Shak would react like that.

Even if Ash did not add a single additional run, it would be okay if WI earned it. His wicket was gifted in the same old fashion. I personally think that Ash's out influenced Shak negatively.

But all said and done - definitely a very useful innings. I just think it doesn't suffice for the place he carries.

[simon]

Ash finally used his intelligence.
This is a new Ash who looks for singles & doubles and he was very constructive.
I am happy.

[Eshen]

We were not certain to win the match at the point Ashraful got out, neither there was any pressure at that moment to play a risky shot. I consider this as another irresponsible act from Ashraful and it was sure maddening.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Finally, someone opens a thread to discuss this. Thank you.

The way he got himself out definitely wasn't ideal - the RRR was still under control and all he had to do was wait for PP3. BUT...until then, he played a gem of an inning - EXACTLY how a #3 is supposed to bat: settle down first, then get the ones and twos going and finally end some bowling careers.

I don't think there's anything like a perfect win - individuals falter and so did Ash, Shak and Mush. The end result is what matters most. Having said that, today we faltered a tad more than desirable. Inexperience isn't an excuse for the way, let's say, Shak and Mushy got out - when you need less than a run a ball to win with half the batting order padded up, PP or no PP (OK, this really doesn't cease to sound weird), you don't go for unnecessary hoicks over the infield. With 40/50 balls left in the game, bad balls and thereby boundaries are granted to come - you shouldn't have to force them.

Right. Going back to Ash - I'm not complaining. Three days ago, we hardly expected him to score anything, so it's a bit much to expect that he'll shed all his idiocy in a couple of days. He was instrumental in our win today - in fact I thought we wouldn't have won had he not played like he did - and if we can't expect other people to finish off the job, then we shouldn't be playing 8 batsmen in the XI.

Where does he go from here? That I think will be more interesting and given his record, I'm not getting too excited. So well done Ash, thank you and don't screw it up for yourself.

[Fazal]

Sufficient in vitamin D, but deficient in vitamin C.

Need to drink more lemon juice.

[sadhat]

Could someone translate those bold sentences and deliver to Ashrafool?

Mushfiqur comes in. The pressure is back on. We've seen such senseless play from Ashraful before. For a man of his experience, it's not acceptable.

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
Ashraful's dismissal left BD at 190-4, still 85 runs to get from 13+ overs...6 wickets, and 4 batsmen left in the game.

question: should ashraful be blamed for nearly losing the match, or not taking it past the "event horizon" so to speak?

or is it OK to rely on the other specialist batsman/all-rounders to make their contributions?

opine/rant/discuss.

[AsifTheManRahman]

My vote on this poll doesn't reflect what I said in my post, though. Option #3 was too tempting.

[sadhat]

Jali beth diya pitano dorker.

[Ashfaq]

Originally Posted by AsifTheManRahman

Where does he go from here? That I think will be more interesting and given his record, I'm not getting too excited. So well done Ash, thank you and don't screw it up for yourself.

It's always fresh and new for Ash. Fans are always guessing, what next, 0 or 100.

He's more trouble than a whiny GF.

[Fazal]

I can forget and forgive Ash how he was out beacuse, in this ODI he played and build his innings exactly how he should be playing in #3 slot.


In first ODI he scored and contributed to the team, but I was not 100% happy as he couldn;t change his gear once he was set and end up having a SR of 60 after playing 95+ balls. That can create pressure to our lower end batsman and that was my concern.

But with this 2nd ODI, the way he player overall, I have no complain at all... and I hope he can play like this in future.

[sadhat]

If we lost the game, all critics would do "Tunadhuna" Ash.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Originally Posted by sadhat
If we lost the game, all critics would do "Tunadhuna" Ash.

That would be unfair, because it would mean no one else would have contributed.

[Rifat]

sufficient:

I don't think he "threw" his wicket away...it is just that he didn't hit it hard enough, a few minutes ago before Ash got out my uncle was saying "it doesn't look good, Ashraful looks tired" and i think fatigue was the issue as in this summer heat taking endless singles after singles after singles and repeatedly converting ones into twos is not easy...he needed some energy/water, and there wasn't enough power in that shot. but the execution/intention was Perfect, but not enough power in that shot caused him to find the fielder in the deep.(that ground is pretty big!!, unlike the venues we are used to playing)

I didn't see our fielding/bowling but Bangladesh batted BRILLIANTLY today...everybody did their part => top order got starts...though Tamim and Junaed looked a bit nervous in the very beginning but Allah's mercy prevailed ...they survived initial hit and miss...

I agree with ATMR from match thread on how Shakib got out...but i don't really blame Shakib much since he got the job done and in style as usual...Mushfiqur: his batting revival since 2008 has been inspirational! well, hopefully he gets his ODI average up soon, that kid deserves some international 100s...

at first 275 looked monumental: but unlike pur past, we used our cricket brain, kept our cool even when our required run rate was hovering over 6.5, plus we didn't really panic... MATURE stuff from Bangladesh

I will be a bit more lenient and give our batting 10/10...since we got the job done and our approach was the mark of a true professional outfit.



though you can't help but wonder those Windies extras helped us a lot too

Salaam, Rifat

[IanW]

Originally Posted by Siraji
It's always fresh and new for Ash. Fans are always guessing, what next, 0 or 100.

Yep, and now he's decided to stick it up both camps of fans by hitting sixty, sixty five runs each match, guaranteeing boths sets get pissed off at him. Pure genius, man

[billah]

In both the matches, Ashraful's knock built the backbone of Bangladesh innings. Until now, Ash was triggering the middle order collapse at this stage. Shakib finished the job in style. Nice scorecards to look at. Nice to see Ash composing himself. At this rate, he should be able to put up a much better average soon. Also, this will certainly keep him in the team. After all, he's only 25.

[Gowza]

good to here that ash was palying for 1s and 2s, as long as he wasn't giving chances, wasn't playing and missing and was playing safe in the context of the match then i'm happy with the performance.

[Akib]

I believe there are 10 other players on the cricket team. He scored 64, second highest score in team, and people are saying he did not do enough... Honestly. Give the man credit for playing well, and don't judge his innings in the manner in which he got out.

He played really well, and its been a while since I see him properly batting and taking singles and doubles. And he managed a good strike rate of 84.

[kazis2007]

Everyone expects a lot from Ash bcz of his ability.We know what he can do.He is such a talentive batsman for bd.Even i was angry to see the way he got out today.Actually those who blame ash they are actually ashraful's fan.One man can not lead a team on the top.

[KnightBD]

I do not understand why can't we take a win as a occasion of celebration, rather dispute.

[Nafi]

Ash had the right idea, he was hitting with the spin, he just didnt hit hard enough

[Dhruvo]

I think he should have scored more. He started playing shots and looked dangerous but he just had to give his wicket away. I am really happy that ash has started performing, but he still gave his wicket away and there should be no excuse for that.