Ashraful:'We could've made the semis'

[Dhruvo]

'We could've made the semis' TigerCricket.com 20-September-2007

CAPE TOWN: Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful and man of the match Zunaed Siddique at the post match media briefing after the 4-wicket loss to Pakistan in the last Super Eight match for the Tigers: Mohammad Ashraful What Bangladesh have learnt from this tournament I think we made small mistakes here and there and that probably cost us a place in the semis. This has been great education for all the boys and everyone has learnt something. The positives from the competition The bowling has been superb. Special mention should made of Razzak, Rasel and Shakib. Riyad played the last two games and bowled really well. In batting Aftab was the most consistent scorer for us. I must also thank Zunaed for an outstanding innings today. Nazimuddin was brilliant in the lead up matches but was unlucky here. If today's match could have been won I felt we had a chance. The wicket was not easy to bat on especially against the spinners. We had three slow bowlers and if Riyad had taken the catch of Imran Nazir with 25-odd to get then anything could have happened. We also missed opportunities against South Africa and Sri Lanka. Zunaed Siddique His game plan I did not think about the opposition. I took no pressure although this was my first international. I just tried to play the way I do in domestic cricket. I stayed positive and played my natural game. What next for him I got selected for the World T20 and that was my priority. I am very happy that I could score some runs but would have been happier if we had won. Obviously I would like to play ODIs and Tests for Bangladesh and if the selectors feel I am good enough then I will try my best to perform. Any regrets at not getting a chance earlier None whatsoever. The selectors have done what they felt is good for the team and in the best interest of Bangladesh cricket. I am just glad that I could score some runs today.

[cricket_king]

Originally Posted by Dhrubo

Hahah the old "natural game" comment. Don't know too many Bangladeshi players who haven't used that during a post-match conference.

[Lord AK]

BD players have 'I played my natural game' always in their speeches.

[tigerpain]

Sometime Ashraful talk MORE than his ACTION, how could he said we did good job after lossing 3 games in a row...!!!???? still don't know, was he HIGH LOL

[Antora]

ufff!!! ei rokom kotha je koto din shunte hobe allahey janey!! i mean seriously the natural game comments must be what everyone in the bd team says..they might not know how to speak english but they can say "i played my natural game" uff!!!! and ashraful, said we could have made it to the semis in the 50/50 wc!!! aki kotha bar bar bolar ki dorkar? and how can he say we played good after losing three times in a row? matha ki kharap naki?

[fai_hasan]

yeah i think bangladesh could have made to the semi final and bit india and win the world cup again. it would be so fun.

ki ar kora, aro dui bosor wait kori.

[LateCut]

Originally Posted by fai_hasan
yeah i think bangladesh could have made to the semi final and bit india and win the world cup "again". it would be so fun.

First of all BD does not bite and, actually, does not even growl! BTW, when was the last time BD won a world cup? You must be an inhabitant of a parallel universe where BD is the world champion.

[ialbd]

we could have won too....

[Padosan]

like india/pak made it to the ODI world cup :p .. could have, would have, should have ..

[Murad]

well we missed 2 winning opportunities against Srilanka & Pakistan.

our bowlers did wonderful job but our batsmen let us down else who knows we could have make it to the semis..

but over all it was a good wc....

look at australia, england..

australia won only 2 games in the wc..

[adel]

Originally Posted by antora93
ufff!!! ei rokom kotha je koto din shunte hobe allahey janey!! i mean seriously the natural game comments must be what everyone in the bd team says..they might not know how to speak english but they can say "i played my natural game" uff!!!! and ashraful, said we could have made it to the semis in the 50/50 wc!!! aki kotha bar bar bolar ki dorkar? and how can he say we played good after losing three times in a row? matha ki kharap naki?

Australia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan- those are the three teams we lost to in the Super 8 stage of the competition. The fact is, despite losing three games in a row, we did indeed play decent cricket. We must take into account the fact that we were up against the likes of former World Champions (in the 50-over version) and teams that generally win most of their games.

[Baundule]

It's sad to see that Ashrafool is following HaBa's footsteps.
Where is the problem with us?

[Fazal]

Originally Posted by Baundule
Where is the problem with us?

The problem is in the root.

[cricket_dorshok]

Originally Posted by Baundule
It's sad to see that Ashrafool is following HaBa's footsteps.
Where is the problem with us?

Problem in the Gene.

[rabeya]

wht is this man wht will say that he had lost his confidence and cant lead his team

[kalpurush]

Originally Posted by Fazal
The problem is in the root.

Boss...the pic tells that too!

[jeesh]

Ashraful is not someone who i wanted to see as captain. He simply doesnt have the maturity and imo is definitely not someone who sets the standards. For the last 5-6 years he has just lived on the hype of having potential, but hasnt progressed anywhere near expectations. Now i hope captaincy doesnt affect his batting.
About this latest comment of his, well i believe we could have caused a few more upsets like Nasser Hussain stated at the beginning of the tournament. Its a pity we didnt have any focus and proper planning.

[cricket_king]

Originally Posted by jeesh
Ashraful is not someone who i wanted to see as captain. He simply doesnt have the maturity and imo is definitely not someone who sets the standards. For the last 5-6 years he has just lived on the hype of having potential, but hasnt progressed anywhere near expectations. Now i hope captaincy doesnt affect his batting.
About this latest comment of his, well i believe we could have caused a few more upsets like Nasser Hussain stated at the beginning of the tournament. Its a pity we didnt have any focus and proper planning.

We need someone who can lead by example. Ashraful may not be the best man under those conditions, but he's the best WE'VE got.
If not Ashraful....then who would you suggest?

[jeesh]

Thats the whole problem, we dont have enough of senior players in the squad to be considered for captaincy because of which Ashraful is the only choice. Too many players keep coming in making an initial impact and then disappearing - Kapali, Saleh, Imran and now Shahriar Nafees. Earlier BCB was grooming Nafees and Rajin for the captaincy job. But given the short life cycle and inconsistency of these players we are not left with much of a choice. I just hope and pray the captaincy doesnt ruin Ashrafuls batting.

[BonBon]

WTF, we could go to the finals, why stop at semis when you are day dreaming

[FagunerAgun]

Very good typical BD lip services. Ash was off form in the field but in a good form in lip services.

[zainab]

Can you pls cut Ashraful some slack? Everyone expects that he works miracles. They really achieved something in beating the Windians, a team that they have never beaten, and they did this convincingly. Would you have preferred that he did not advance to the super eight stage? Look at the positives and not the negatives.
In nearly all the big teams that BD has beaten, Ashraful has played a big part.
I agree that he is a bit too young for the captaincy, but who else is there?
Give him a chance. I am sure that he can do well.

[cricket_king]

Originally Posted by zainab
Can you pls cut Ashraful some slack? Everyone expects that he works miracles. They really achieved something in beating the Windians, a team that they have never beaten, and they did this convincingly. Would you have preferred that he did not advance to the super eight stage? Look at the positives and not the negatives.
In nearly all the big teams that BD has beaten, Ashraful has played a big part.
I agree that he is a bit too young for the captaincy, but who else is there?
Give him a chance. I am sure that he can do well.

We should cut him some slack, agree with you on that one. However you cant just only look at the positives. You'll never learn that way. I for one would focus more on the negatives, while also praising the positives, or keep them in proportion to each other, in this case, more negatives.