Overall reaction on the 1st test

[Tigers_eye]

I am happy with Bangladesh Cricket teams overall performance. With the showing that they provided at SL I was afraid there would be an innings defeat in the cards. Embarrassment, and calling for removal from the test ranks.

Ash's century, SN and KM's support.
Mostly tight bowling by Rasel (proved himself not a one series man).
Shahadat's aggressiveness and tight lips (lol).
Getting SL 334 when they were at 313 for 6. (Unbelievable never in my wildest dream thought they could finish them off within 350).

We did compete in this match. Unlike in other matches we lay down from day 1 or 2. YEs, i know this is a weaker SL team but hey we didn't ask for it.

Edited on, March 2, 2006, 2:59 PM GMT, by Cats_eye.

[Rubu]

Hard to explain in a poll question.

I'm happy with the good fighting spirit they showed and went head to head for 2 and half days. murali made the difference.

on the other hand, I'm very disappoint with the management for not giving the team the best chance to win with the right combination of players.

We did not know the test would progress in such as way that we would desperately miss mashrafee. but I guess nothing to say here as we really can't risk anything about this guy. even if aftab was not physically fit, alok had no business in the team. we desperately missed a batting alrounder.

a guy picked for his bowling bowled 1 over in first innings. whatever reason is hehind this, its the joke of the century.

last but not least, throwing wicket away. NI did it twice. we should do a sonar gaon on him.

[Mahmood]

Before I used to be "Extremely dissatisfied", but this match I am so far just "dissatisfied", so its a step up.

[Tigers_eye]

To me positive out weighs the negetive in this match. And I Agree with you on Alok's selection. I think this is the last chance for NI and Alok. We would see Mushfiq and Rana in. Hoping the second match would be much more exciting and the match goes 5 days.

[IanW]

I dont think the match will go 5 days - win or lose, it'll be over by around tea on day 4.

But it was still a good, hard game of Test cricket, turned around by an excellent spell by one of the finest slow bowlers ever.

If thats what it takes to beat Bangladesh, you shouldnt be too unhappy.

Ian Whitchurch

[sadi]

got to say, I am quite satisfied with their performance so far. Facing murali in the second innings will always be tough and he showed how good of a bowler he is today. Really pissed at Nafis Iqbal though.... he just commited suicide over there and that started the collapse....

[Cricket46]

I generally agree with your comments Cats_eye. This Bangladesh team can surprise us in both good and bad ways (more often in bad ways). I would be very happy if we could grab anything more than 5 wickets tomorrow. As we all knew, Murali would be the difference.

But I would not like to see a knee-jerk reaction by changing the team too much. This fear of losing position after one bad performance does no good to the players’ morale. I still do not think it is a good idea to expose Mushfiq. He will eventually be a permanent member in the senior team. The best option would be to bring back Aftab for Alok for the second test. I don’t know what is the actual story line on Aftab. No need to mention Mashrafee, because it seems clear that he is not being considered for fitness reasons.

[sadi]

kinda disappointed with kapali... i expected him to do well but guess what.... he failed again.... definately we will see a change there and either mushfiq and aftab will come in the second test...

[betaar]

I am very disappointed. As I mentioned in other threads, Bangladesh should win this match against this weaken SL team or at least die down fighting. So far in the 2nd inning it didn’t happen and I doubt it will ever happen.

But on the other hand I am very satisfied with my prediction coming true. Who said that BD batsmen aren’t consistent, they are and very much so with their ability of chickening out in the 2nd inning.

A job well done Bangladeshi batsmen…again and again.

[IanW]

Betaar,

How about you go bat for a couple of overs against Murali on a turning fourth day pitch ?

Sri Lanka havent won yet - and they know that to do it they will need to do more than just turning up.

Ian Whitchurch

[al Furqaan]

YEs, i know this is a weaker SL team but hey we didn't ask for it.

well, i just wanna say a few things i have already said.

b4 the series, i warned against saying its a weak SL team, cuz i knew it would crop up.

but if you look at ODIs, vaas and murali were gone, as were attappattu. but i think jayasuriya was in.

vaas and murali did not do the damage last ODI series (2005). they took 2 wickets combined in 3 matches.

attapattu also was not the danger man. jayasuriya was handled well, and his 96 in the 2nd ODI couldnt stop us.

in tests, again Murali was our biggest nemesis and he returns to do the bulk of the work. again vaas did not do much in tests.

[AsifTheManRahman]

i put a satisfactory. we put up quite well for the first two and a half days or so; sri lanka were in quite a comfortable position at 313/6 on the close of play on day 2, but i thought we did a good job of wrapping up the tail for aroun 25 in the morning of the 3rd day. all batsmen got starts in the first inning, however, i would have liked them to build upon that start and go on to score biggies. that didn't happen, and i was quite disappointed by the way they threw their wickets.

we still have around 115 to defend, and I am expecting at least a couple of wickets before the close of the game. the pitch should be good for spin now, and let's see if rafique and enam can make 'em sweat for glory.

and like ian said, it took an awesome spell from the world's best bowler to beat us; we did not bow down to some unknown rastar pola XYZ. there is very little that batsmen of any nation can do when murali's at his best.

[SMHasan]

No comment please.Still two days to go, even though SL might win the game 2mrow still lets see how bangladesh fights to restrict them.

[reverse_swing]

I think the current team should remain same. Personally I like to see Aftab instead of NI though.

[sadi]

I am not sure about nafis iqbal... he looks so good while he is batting but then he throw away his wickets... he did that in both innings... should we go with him or try someone else? We can't jsut afford to let someone throw away their wickets after getting set like that...

[BanCricFan]

Nafis should stay for the 2nd test and redeem himself!

Alok should be dropped - although I'm an ardent supporter of him- and not picked again for a long time untill he has several FC tons under his belt. It was really pathetic how he was handled in this series!!! It would have done immense damage to his already depleted confidence! I just hope our selectors, coach and the kaptan have not bring about a pre-mature end to his international career! What an immense waste that would be!

[Sorry]

i have voted for None of the above because i don't have a satisfactometer to measure my satisfaction level.
guys, could you let me know how did you manage to measure?

[TheWatcher]

Iqbal sure deserves harsh tongue lashings from DW and Faruque for throwing his wicket in the both innings, but at this point he is the most technically assured Test opening batsman we have, the selectors should give him few more chances before throwing him out again.

[Tigers_eye]

The 2nd test will be at Bogura where a 3rd seamer or Medium pacer will be helpful. Aftab should get the nod instead of Alok. If they select NIqbal then the captain and coach needs to get onto him. Anything foolish in the second test will shut the door for test cricket for atleast 3/4 years.

Are the players allowed to meet with the family while a home test match going on? I hope not?

[nayef]

I'd say satisfactory. Vaughan declared to finish us off in 2 days in england, but here at the start of the third day... both sides weren't through with their first innings. I've said b4 that performing well in back to back innnigs is still not the norm for us, so a collapse in the second was sort of expected. However.. this has still been a good performance, and specially the body language of the players on field has been excellent. These guys need the patience and support to hang in there and I'm sure in the next 2-3 years, there will be a couple of draws here and there.

Alok... i still dont get why he is regarded as one of the best talents in the country... he seems to so lost.. while batting or bowling.. i watched the hattrick against pakistan.. and he wasn't bowling that well back then too... if scoring 20s is still a sign of good batsmanship for us.. maybe its time to move on.

[sadi]

enough alok debate...... maybe its time to move on.

[nayef]

Originally posted by sadi
enough alok debate...... maybe its time to move on.

agreed

[nayan]

bd's performence actually was better that i expected in the second innigs. i thought i will be all out in 120 to 150. so 181 for me is good. well what ealse can u expect from a team full of "natural" stroke players but no batsman!

[betaar]

Originally posted by IanW
Betaar,

How about you go bat for a couple of overs against Murali on a turning fourth day pitch ?

Ian Whitchurch

Ian, if you are trying to be funny then it's really workin' dude.



If my lack of ability to bat against Murali is your defense for our batsmen's failure, then I'm afraid I've got no trick up on my sleeve to get back at you.

We have always batted very very poorly against any opponents on the 2nd inning, which goes to show the lack of mental strength our boys posses when it's really needed. Look at the way Nafees Iqbal got out, if he was in a Pakistani team in the mid 90's I'd say that he took money from the bookies, but sorry to say I don't even have that excuse. It's just sheer stupidity the way some of the boys got out and that's what frustrated me the most.

[Spitfire_x86]

I'm fairly satisfied. So I voted for "satisfied".

I hope this is not the best we can do. If it is our average standard, then we don't have many reason to be dissapointed. But if it is our highest capability, then we indeed have some reason to worry about.