News Just in : Ashraful Captain, Mashrafee Vice-captain

[WarWolf]

I feel so happy. Best of luck guys.

[Farhad]

Originally Posted by Imtiazk
I
Murtaza ever since his World Cup 37 has shown the correct attitude and temperament. His 79 and 70 were both class knocks. The shots went along the carpet with a straight bat. However, when he went after the bad ball, the ball stayed hit. The responsibility will have done him good.

To me, he shows a greater understanding of the game. And he clearly has a head on his shoulders. With Ashraful, I think, everyone his hoping that with the burden of captaincy he just might grow up. Well, let's wait and see . Bashar never learned. He still played the same stupid shots.

I agree with you on some counts. Although, i can hardly say that their knocks as batsmen should play any role in their appointment of captaincy. Mash might have shown some temperament in the way he played the other day, but that doesnt mean he'd be a great captain. You need to think about field placements, powerplays and all sorts of other things. I think Ashrafuls aggressive attittude is exactly what we need right now...

[Deadzone]

Itz nice to c ashraful as captain buh dnt ya all think hez a young gun to do the captaincy ! And About Mashrafe i think he needed more tym cuz most of da tym hez injured. But overall itz a gud dicision by BCB. Hope ashraful doent lose his performance under pressure !

[Nafi]

I told you guys I'M ALWAYS RIGHT.

http://www.banglacricket.com/alochon...312#post464312

[Dhakablues]

Originally Posted by TigerRoar
Fellow Tigers,

I dont agree with this appointment. I mean what is Ashraful? Is he made captain just because of that one inning against Australia? Is our Bangla standard so low that we can not find a smart guy in team to be captain?

Ashraful is a carefree player how can we expect him to lead the team skillfully?

Yes it is that bad.... who else wouldve been the captain? Obviously, the status quo wasnt working. Besides Ashraful, you dont have a player who can lead the team as they themselves are in question about their place in the squad. We see a spark here and there but the bottomline is Bangladesh is not at a level where you have half world class players and seniority from which you can choose captains. It was required that we change course and let Ashraful be serious about his responsibilites. We need Shahrier Nafis to get back int eh rythem for the team's sake and hence he cant be the captain. Ashraful has always seen as the person who is engaging others, played significant role in every famous wins... him with Mashrafee are the the only two players in the squad that the opposition team fears and admires the most.

[Zobair]

Well Imtiaz, if Ash proves to be a dud then Mash is the next in line.

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by Imtiazk
Ashraful blew it , in my opinion, with his 41 ball 67. I was there watching it. Great entertainment ! But was that the manner to play it at that time. Frankly, a 100 ball 67 was needed...

Very good argument. If you ask any of the more cool headed fans, they'll tell you the same. I was talking to an ex-selector a couple of days ago, and he mentioned the same thing.

But another thing is...it could be what you experience when you walk down the slope. It takes little courage for you to withstand the gravitational pull, and so you walk faster in the slope. This is what I think happened to Ashraful.

To me, [Murtoza] shows a greater understanding of the game. And he clearly has a head on his shoulders. With Ashraful, I think, everyone his hoping that with the burden of captaincy he just might grow up.

Some thoughts here. Murtoza is actually an aggressive player. And it's very good that his aggression works in most cases. Alhamdulillah. But don't you think aggression will not always generate the same result every time?

I don't mean to say that aggression isn't necessary. What I mean is, too much of anything isn't good. Beeing too defensive isn't good, and having too much aggression isn't good either. Mashrafee is good the way he is, for the position he is in. He's a strike bowler, and he needs to be aggressive. But to lead the team with the same momentum will be a bit tricky. I would say, 75% of his aggression, and 25% of Ashraful's cricketing knowledge will probably make a huge impact in the match results.

Bashar never learned. He still played the same stupid shots.

Actually, Bashar was once the classiest batsman we had. It's just NOW that he is seriously out of form. The question isn't about his shot selection...but it's about his field placement and overall approach.

[Ahmed_B]

খাইছে! আশরাফুলরে ক্যাপ্টেন বানায়া দিল! এখন তো সে আর সেই বিখ্যাত 'বেঙ্গি ড্যান্স' দিতে পারবে না! ক্যাপ্টেনকে তো একটু গম্ভীর থাকতেই হয়! বেচারা!

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by Ahmed_B
খাইছে! আশরাফুলরে ক্যাপ্টেন বানায়া দিল! এখন তো সে আর সেই বিখ্যাত 'বেঙ্গি ড্যান্স' দিতে পারবে না! ক্যাপ্টেনকে তো একটু গম্ভীর থাকতেই হয়! বেচারা!

Oh no...eita ki bollen Ahmed bhai...taile r khela dekhe laab ki???

[Mahmood]

A hearfull thanks to Bashar for filling in untill we find a real captain. He has done his best.

I am very happy to see finally Mashrafee given the chance, he will be the best captain of Bangladesh ever, when his time comes. Untill then, I hope Ash does a great job to turn us into world's top 5.

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by Mahmood
I am very happy to see finally Mashrafee given the chance, he will be the best captain of Bangladesh ever, when his time comes. Untill then, I hope Ash does a great job to turn us into world's top 5.

I could see this coming. Mahmood bhai has always wanted Mashrafee as the captain...and everyone argued against it. Now I gess things are taking shape.

Mahmood bhai...since you could foresee the future, please tell me what will happen to me at the end of this year after completing masters...chakri hobe to?

[rah]

Originally Posted by napoleonIV
For both Test and ODIs.

u sure bout test matches bruv, cos bashar sed he gave up the odi captaincy

[PoorFan]

Since Ash & Mash are almost same aged and both are match winner for BD, there will good balance and check in teams leading, decision making unlike till now. Hope they respect and help each other, and bring us new era of BD cricket. Good luck Ash & Mash!

[Zobair]

Originally Posted by rah
u sure bout test matches bruv, cos bashar sed he gave up the odi captaincy

Look here:

http://www.thedailystar.net/latest/updates.php?pid=11

[layperson]

Very good news. This means that Bashar is out of the team in all forms of the game if he is not performing. I have absolutely no problem if he can come back to the team as a batsman but I do not see that happening. He is done and over with. Now we need to find two more good quality fast bowlers and a leg spinner and then the cricket world will be ours to reign.

[amra_korbo_joy]

Exciting news. We will see big difference in test. He will be setting more attacking fielding in the test. This will be good.

[JamesBond]

Shain Williams is the new coach.. didnt know that

[mali007]

Normaly consistent batsman when given captaincy become INCONSISTENT . Ashraful
was an inconsistent batsman as a player -------- may be he will be CONSISTENT batsman
as a captain.

[cricketboy]

Great news ! Selectors took the bold but right decision.

[zulfiqer]

here is cricinfo news

Ashraful named Bangladesh captain

Cricinfo staff

June 2, 2007



Over to you skipper: Mohammad Ashraful will be a young captain leading a young team © AFP


Mohammad Ashraful has been named Bangladesh's new captain in both forms of the game. He replaces Habibul Bashar who stood down as one-day captain following the series against India, but had indicated his wish to remain in charge of the Test side. However, the board have decided on a clean break and, at 22, Ashraful becomes one of the youngest captains in the international game.

Ashraful's first assignment will be a three-Test and three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka later this month and he'll also lead the side at the Twenty20 World Championships, in South Africa, during September. Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh's leading pace bowler who also enjoyed success with the bat against India, has been named as Ashraful's vice-captain.

Ashraful's coach on the tour of Sri Lanka will be Shaun Williams, the Australian who has been in charge of the successful Under-19 side, following Dave Whatmore's departure after the India series. The board plan to name Whatmore's long-term successor following the series in Sri Lanka.

"With his [Ashraful's] captaincy, Bangladesh cricket enters a new era," said a BCB spokesman. "The board is confident Ashraful will lead by example and take the country's cricket to a new height. He is a talented batsman and has all the abilities to be a very good leader."

Despite a Test and ODI averages of 24 and 21 respectively Ashraful is one of Bangladesh's key players. He hit the headlines in 2001 by becoming the youngest Test century-maker and was Bangladesh's leading run-scorer during the World Cup in West Indies. Against South Africa he hit an 83-ball 87, which was central to the team's memorable Super Eight victory.

However, his finest moment came at Cardiff, in 2005, when he hit 100 to guide Bangladesh towards a famous victory over Australia in the Natwest Series. But each time his game has appeared ready to move to the next level his inconsistency, and impetuosity, has reared its head. Now he has the added responsibility of having to lead by example

[Pundit]

Kabir has summed up everything the best.

I have one question - Why do you not see many bowlers as captain?

Imran Khan - a fine one, but he is a different story
Kapil Dev - a successful one because of '83, but was he a good captain?
S Pollock - A failure
Bob Willis - Somewhat successful
I Botham - A failure. He was more of a stop-gap.
Sobers - He was more of a batsman
Tony Lewis - Not so bad for England
Wasim Akram - Good in '99, but had too many lapses
Waqar Younus - A failure

Besides Imran Khan, you will see that most capitulated due to stress factors.

[RezOne]

Congrats to Ash and Mashrafe. Hopefully they'll lead our team to a brighter and better future. It's always easy to criticize but it's harder to be positive. And I think these two along with the rest of the players represent a very positive future for our team. Go Bangladesh!!!!

[Shafin]

Official link

http://tigercricket.com/viewNews.aspx?newsID=385

[cricket_dorshok]

Congrats to our new captain and vice-captian. hope they will lift our cricket to the top.

[zzzz]

Making an "aggressive" batsman like Ashraful - the Captain, is not a very smart move in my opinion. Ashraful's natural instincts as a batsman is to "attack" , but given the "responsibility of being a Captain", he would be caught in two minds and might end up losing his flair.

There are innumerable examples of this from the past.....