Team for the Second Test?

[Sham]

Given our performance in the First Test, who do you folks reckon we should pick for the second Test? I personally don't think we should make too many changes. I am an advocate for continuity, especially since we have a young side. The only decision I would make is whether we should play an extra batsman and drop one of the spinners on what will be a quicker track. I dont think we need two specialist spinners, especially since Sanwar is a half decent spinner himself and the only spinner to take a wicket in the first Test.

Some of you may feel that given our terrible bowling display, its a bit rich saying we should drop a bowler. But I dont think having a fifth bowler made any difference whatsoever. We have to get sides out by bowling well, not packing the side with bowlers. Basically, Monju, Talha, Baisya and either Kapali or Rafique will have to bowl a lot better in the second Test and hopefully Sanwar will get more overs. My team for the Second Test is:

Javed Omar
Al Shahriar
Hannan Sarkar/Rafiqul Islam
Habibul Bashar
Sanwar Hossain
Tushar Imran
Khaled Mashud
Md Rafique/Alok Kapali
Tapash Baisya
Monjurul Islam
Talha Jubair

[Pundit]

Rafique did fairly well in terms of containment. This large word though fairly ineffective in test matches, probably helped buy a couple of added hours, and hence a 4 day test.

But on the 2nd test pitch, it will probably be good for nothing. I say choose the alternatives to Rafique and Rafiqul, and keep all else the same.

[Sham]

Pundit, I wouldnt understate the value of containment. Since our bowling lacks penetration, containment is the best we can do at the moment, try to frustrate the batsmen into throwing away their wickets. Since we can't get them out, we have to make them get themselves out. We don't help our cause by giving them 5 runs an over. Its just all too easy for the opposition batsmen right now. I cant decide between Rafiq and Kapali myself but I wouldnt hold containment against Rafiq.

[Zobair]

with Kapali coz he is simply the better batsman...and I still maintain for us the only way we can stretch a test is by batting longer...example last test...the only i repeat ONLY reason we pushed the test into 4th day was because masud and kapali survived 22 overs!!!...without losing a wicket now thats how you stretch and possibly draw a test... I just don't think containing would actually slow down the scoring enough to stretch the test...not when every other bowler is gifting away runs...add to that a fast track that is gonna help spinners even less!!!

[Mahmood]

I would drop Tushar (He seems not competent for test yet) and bring in Hannan and Rafiqul both. Definitly drop one spinner. Sanwar is doing far better.

Also, We dont even need a spinner in these fast pitches. I would drop both Kapali and Rafiq and bring in Sujon.

Golla
Rokon
Rafiqul
Sumon
sanwar
Hannan
Pilot
Sujon
Taposh
Monjur
Talha

[Edited on 23-10-2002 by Rajputro]

[Runtings]

I would give Imran Tusher a rest in the second test and get rid of Rafique.

My team would be-

Golla
Rokon
Basher
Hannah Sarkar
Sanwar
Kapali
Pilot
Sujon
Taposh
Manju
Talha

[rafiq]

my 2 cents - I would keep kapali for his first test batting heroics (selectors will have a hard time justifying dropping him). which means rafiq has to sit for the reasons stated before. on the batting, i would open with hannan and drop down. i hope they don't drop javed omar for rafiqul.

golla
hannan
rokon
bashar
sanwar
pilot
kapali
sujon/or rafiqul instead?
tapash
manju
talha

[Shubho]

Javed Omar's performance has been sub-par since the ICC Champions Trophy. He just isn't comfortable with the new ball, and is showing no signs of improvement. I think he needs to feel the stick a little. Dropping Rokon for one match really worked wonders. Who knows, it might have the same effect on Golla. Then again, I honestly wouldn't know which other batsman has test temperament.

Tushar Imran plays sexy one-day cricket. I don't think he's test material though.

So that's two batsmen I think we ought to drop. Replacements? Can't think of anyone. Recall Bulbul and Akram, anyone? Give Steve Tikolo the Bangladeshi citizenship.

[Edited on 23-10-2002 by Shubho]

[opening_batsman]

My team would be

Golla
Rokon
Basher
Tushar
Sanwar
Kapali
Pilot
Anwar Hussein
Taposh
Manju
Talha

Same team except I would drop Rafique and bring in an extra seam bowler in Anwar Hussein. The South African pitches are not suited spinners and we have kapali and Sanwar who can bowl spin.

[Sham]

Okay, I have to disagree with some of you. Firstly, I dont support the dropping of Tushar. Not because I am some great fan, but because this is exactly what we are getting into the practice of doing, giving youngsters one chance and then dropping them. Tushar may not be 'competent' for Test cricket as Rajputro pointed out, but neither is anyone else in our lineup. If we have identified him as someone with potential, we have to give him the chance to become a Test batsman. Thats not going to happen if he goes back and plays our domestic cricket, it will only happen if he plays the best sides. So keep him I say, lets atleast give him the chance to improve, which wont happen by dropping him.

Second point, I do not agree with the selection of either Sujon or Anwar. Dropping one of the spinners is a must. But I would take one of our two reserve batsmen rather than one of our two reserve seamers. Sujon just is not a Test class bowler and at his age, unlikely to become one. South Africa will toy with him. I dont think we should take four pacers just because they are pacers. If Rafiq/Kapali are better bowlers than Sujon/Anwar, which I think they are, we should take one of them. This wicket may be quicker, but lets not forget that South Africa is much more used to playing quicks than spinners. So I would take one specialist spinner to add to Sanwar.

One last thing, a fast track usually helps both pacers and spinners. Slow tracks and turning tracks are two seperate things, and as we should not imply turning tracks when we hear slow track, we should not imply a non-turner when we hear fast track. In most cases, if the wicket has some bounce, it gives spinners the extra nip they need, which is much more useful than slow wickets where the batsmen can play the balls off the pitch. Spinners always do better on the Oval, England's fastest track than at Edgbaston or Trent Bridge, which are much slower. So if this track does turn out to be quicker, we should expect both our pacers and spinners to do better than they did in the first Test.

[Tehsin]

Lokos like we should keep both the spinner based on Sham's point. Kapali has proved himself very useful with the bat, so much so, he is more of a batsman then a bowler.

Still, I will drop Tushar for Rafiqul because Rafiqul has a great record in the longer version of the game. It's high time we give him a shot to prove what he can do. Tushar's great when he is playing his shots just like Rokon. We were ready to drop Rokon (and we did) and he came back with a bang.

By the way, those who saw the match, how good was it ? We need more of that EVERY match.

[zakir]

I will keep Tushar and bring Shujon for
different reasons. Since they are good
ODI players and most probably will play
for Bangladesh in the next World cup (since World Cup is an ODI tournament),
this is their last chance before World Cup
to get some more experience playing
in SA conditions against quality bowlers.
So for doing better in the next WC Tushar and Shujon (in place of Rafique) should
play 2nd Test.

[fwullah]

My Team:

1) Golla
2) Rokon
3) Sumon
4) Sanwar
5) Tushar - for his proof of getting some runs in one day cricket against good opposition/ Rafiqul - we need to see more of him
6) Pilot
7) Kapali
8) Rafique
9) Tapash
10) Monju
11) Talha

Personally, I would like to see Hannan and Rafiqul more - as they have not been fully tested yet. Especially, Rafiqul got only 1 chance - with his batting average of around 35 in Bangladesh's domestic first class matches, as well as his century in a one day match against Kenya, where Golla also scored 90 - we should not underestimate Kenyan bowling and just not see off Rafiqul.

And yet, if Rafiqul is chosen for the 2nd test match, and does not perform well, it will not matter much as it is only one game where we are not expected to do anything but perform as well as the 2nd innings of the 1st test.

Javed Omar and Tushar Imran seem to be the most suitable among all the batsman to drop and give others some chance. In this case, Javed Omar has still not adjusted himself to play at the international level yet after his injury. But he has the test match temperament.

On the other hand, Tushar Imran has scored some runs against the South African side, but none of his runs were scored playing a lot of balls - which makes him a potential target for dropping him since our goal is to force th match into the 4th day rather than to score some runs to decrease the losing margin.

[Shubho]

Take him out...if only for one match!

[dog__]

I don't know where you guys got the idea that the pitch tomorrow is going to be a lightning face seamer's paradise. It'll offer a bit more pace and bounce than the one for the first test, but there will be less grass on it and it'll be dryer, so Sham is dead right - it'll help the spinners as much as the seamers.

From what I've seen of your players, you could put ten bowlers in the team and it wouldn't help you bowl us out - maybe I'm judging you on too little evidence, but if I was your coach I'd go with an extra batter for Rafique. Unless you have a seamer who offers something different to the reasonably good variety your current three offer I can think of no reason for five specialist bowlers in a (no offence) team that needs all the batsmen it can muster.

[CRIFAN]

what kind of bowlers are seamers? are they different kind of spin bowlers?

[Mahmood]

seamers = fast bowlers.

[handle]

Dog is right - even if we had 10 (of our current) bowlers, we won't be able to bowl out SA for under a good 700-800 runs. We need to pack up our team with batsmen.

On the flip side of the argument, if the SA team didn't have any bowlers, we'd still be all out for around 200-300, don't you think ?

[Sham]

dog_,

Thank you for that endorsement. You are right, we need to pack in as many batsmen as we can. Three pacers, a specialist spinner and a part time spinner is the best we can afford at the moment, and honestly, its quite a balanced bowling lineup. That gives us the space for six specialist batsmen and Mashud. I think that gives us the best overall balance. Since there seems to be little to seperate between Kapali and Rafiq in terms of bowling, I guess I would go with Kapali for his superior batting.

At the end of the day, whoever gets picked, I wish the team all the best and I hope we show some fight out there.

[rafiq]

Dog:

our "seamer who offers something different to the reasonably good variety [the] current three offer" is named Mashrafee and he suffers from a mysterious ailment, possibly a damaged ligament. We don't seem to know how to get him better. Can you help?

[Sham]

Yes, Mashrafee is the best young bowler we have, definitely the one with the greatest potential. I just hope that when he does return from injury, if he ever does, his bowling wouldnt have been much affected. Since its not a back injury, I am still hopeful. We cant hope for a McGrath or Donald at the moment, we arent going to get bowlers who will take 400 career wickets at 21. If we can get two or three bowlers who are good enough to take 150-200 career wickets at about 30-32, that will be great. Add to that 3 or 4 batsmen who average in the mid 30s and we will have a team of some respectability.

[Tehsin]

For the 3 or 4 batsmen with about 30-something averages:
Sumon
Golla
Sanwar
Rokon

Let's add the return of a 'reformed' Ashraful to that list and VOILA.

However, we do need to make sure that we do not kick out a player based on a single match - ie, let's stick with at least 4 to 5 of the SAME batsmen for almost all matches. Take our best and brightest and give them as much exposure as they can handle. Now, if after two/three matches we see that someone needs a 'break', give him that.

Look at the result of Pakistan's 'relatively new' team and you will understand the importance of experience at this level.

[safat]

"Since there seems to be little to seperate between Kapali and Rafiq in terms of bowling"-----
That is so wrong. Kapali is no whrere near in terms of bowiling ability to Rafiq.

[fwullah]

I hate to admit it, but I agree with Safat. Only if Rafique could get at least 1 wicket, I would have been vocal to include Rafique in the 2nd test.

But the squad so far is:

1) Rokon
2) Hannan
3) Rafiqul
4) Sumon
5) Sanwar
6) Tushar
7) Pilot
8) Kapali
9) Tapash
10) Monju
11) Talha

[James90]

11.3 Ntini to Hannan Sarkar, no run, down middle, bouncer, batsman tries
to get out of the way but he's hit on the vizer, batsman is down
Batsman is getting some attention, looks like he'll retire hurt