Batting order for the next match

[TheWatcher]

I think both Sakib and Ash deserve to be promoted in the batting order. Sakib seems to be more comfartable against pacers than against spinners (atleast, that was how it seemed in the last match), so I think #3 position will be more appropiate for him. Also, I think Mushfiq is being wasted at #7, he needs to be brought forward in the batting order too.

My batting order -

JO
Tamim
Sakib
Ashraful
Mushfiq
Bashar (Don't want to see him playing again, but I know he will be there)
Aftab (the ideal candidate for late overs)
Mashrafe (hopefully he will recover in time)
Rafique
Razzak
Rasel/Shahadat

[knightrider357]

JO
Tamim
Mushfiq
Sakib
Ashraful
Aftab
Bashar (i wish i could send him after Rasel)
Mashrafe
Rafique
Razzak
Rasel

i think Mushfiq is a better choice at #3 instead of Sakib or Ashraful.... both sakib & ashraful are doing good at 4 & 5 respectively... i dont wanna make any changes and screw that up... Bashar, if possible, should come last even after Rasel ... & Aftab at #6 for the slog overs

[TheWatcher]

Sakib probably not doing bad at #4 (although, as I said, I want him to face the Indian pacers more than their spinners) but Ash is definately being under utilized at #5.

[Murad]

bashar 6 number e khelle aftab ke pathaibe 3 number e which is worse for aftab.. Bashar should bat at 3. out hoile o same na hoile o same.. so doesnt matter.. he shud not bat at lower order.....

Mashrafe will be playing in the 2nd match.. some dailies mentioned that..

[sadi]

I like your batting order Watcher bhai. Makes perfect sense.

[Tokyobreeze]

Tamim
JO
Ash
Sakib
Mushfiq
Aftab
Bashar
Mashrafi
Rafique
Razzaque
Rasel

Seems Ash has started to understand the important of consistency these days. I would have him face more deliveries. Mushfiq won't be a bad choice for one down, but as we have JO we don't need two slow batsmen together in the early stage of the game.

Bashar should come as late as possible. He is going at #3 these days and in no time we are loosing one more wicket which surely creates pressure on the coming batsmen.

[Beamer]

Its pointless to think and propose the best possible batting line up from among the players available, when you have to fit in Bashar. Its pointless, frustrating and irritating.

[SMHasan]

I seriously want Ash to come at 4. He is a big player who can build the innings and at the same time he can guide other players too.

It's a pain to see Bashar is coming before Ash and Saqib. Slowly Mr Bashar is becoming Mr Arrogant (just look at his reactions in todays daily star).

[Protic]

JO
Tamim
Sakib
Ashraful
Aftab
Mushfiqur
Mortaza
Bashar
Rafique
Razzak
Rasel

[Protic]

I feel really bad for Bashar..but thats how he actually ended up..he has no place to bat @ ODI's but #8.

[cricket_king]

Make bashar 12th man. That way he can stay on the field and captain us or captain us from the sidelines..........since he HAS to be captain

[Protic]

Only if i could ..:p
Sakib & Tamim are actually shining against the big boys.. good signs.
84 more runs to Sakib..and he reaches 1000 Runs in ODI's.
Probably in 32 matches. If he does manage these 84 runs in next 2 ODIS.

[Mahir]

I will maintain what I, along with a few others, have been saying for some time now. Bring Mushfique up. At no 3. Then Sakib stays at his best position, followed by rest of the order.

Javed
Tamim
Mushfique
Sakib
Ashraful
Aftab
Bashar (feels bad for this human being)
Mashrafee/Reza (Shahadat pisses me off... sorry for the lack of a better term)
Rafique
Razzak
Rasel

[Dhakablues]

Originally Posted by Mahir
I will maintain what I, along with a few others, have been saying for some time now. Bring Mushfique up. At no 3. Then Sakib stays at his best position, followed by rest of the order.

Javed
Tamim
Mushfique
Sakib
Ashraful
Aftab
Bashar (feels bad for this human being)
Mashrafee/Reza (Shahadat pisses me off... sorry for the lack of a better term)
Rafique
Razzak
Rasel

Mushfiq is not a player who should be at #3, by no means he is a better batsmen than Ashraful, Sakib, Aftab. He is a good batter but not that one who can make shots look easy like Ashraful, He cant score run a ball 50 like Sakib, nor can he blast balls like Aftab... Mushfiq is the perfect batter for 6 or 7.

I actually like Watchers list... its a perfect list that matches the skills of the respective players. But I also think #4 spot is for the player who can play both speedy and slow innings. Sakib is the one. Its amazing that while we were at awe with javed omar,, Sakib continued to rotate the strike and kept things going. I think 4 is best for him as he can assist ashraful or Aftab/Mushfiq. And I think I still couldnt figure out what shots he plays frequently. he seems to be playing differnt kind of shots each game.

[Sumon77]

I also like Watcher's line up, only concern is if sakib coop with no 3 position in case one opener leaves real early.

[Mahir]

Originally Posted by Dhakablues
Mushfiq is not a player who should be at #3, by no means he is a better batsmen than Ashraful, Sakib, Aftab. He is a good batter but not that one who can make shots look easy like Ashraful, He cant score run a ball 50 like Sakib, nor can he blast balls like Aftab... Mushfiq is the perfect batter for 6 or 7.

Mushfiq is a straight-out waste at no 7. Without going into the matter of who's a better batsman, your no.3 doesnt necessarily have to be better than your no.4/5 inorder for him to bat ahead of no.4/5. If you've followed international cricket well enough, you'd have probably witnessed that a team's best batsman usually comes in at no.4/5 (Lara, Dravid, Inzamam). So the theory of sending better batsmen ahead of the less better batsmen is nonsense really. A batting-order is based on the capabilities of each batsman's style and how they bat, and what situation best suits them.

Having said that, Mushfiq may not have polished all of his skills already when it comes to batting higher in the order, but he has the potential AND has shown glimpses of his ability to bat high up the order. He has a textbook style of batting with a straight bat, and that really comes in handy, especially in the context of this Bangladesh team, which doesnt have opening combination a la Hayden/Gilchrist or Gayle/Chanderpaul to produce 100+ runs partnerships almost all the time.

And IMHO, your assessment of Mushfiq's inability to play an innings of run-a-ball 50 or a hard-hitting cameo is a bit premature, since he's had very little chance to show himself off so far. As far as my understanding goes, Mushfiq CAN hit sixes, as well as he can make a run-a-ball 50. He can also play the role of sheet-anchor perfectly. In other words, this guy has very good batting talent, and he follows instruction really well.

[Zunaid]

Javed
Tamim
Ashraful
Sakib
Mushfique
Aftab
Reza
Mashrafee
Rafique
Razzak
Rasel

12th man: Shahadat

[cricket_king]

Originally Posted by Dhakablues
Mushfiq is not a player who should be at #3, by no means he is a better batsmen than Ashraful, Sakib, Aftab. He is a good batter but not that one who can make shots look easy like Ashraful, He cant score run a ball 50 like Sakib, nor can he blast balls like Aftab... Mushfiq is the perfect batter for 6 or 7.

I actually like Watchers list... its a perfect list that matches the skills of the respective players. But I also think #4 spot is for the player who can play both speedy and slow innings. Sakib is the one. Its amazing that while we were at awe with javed omar,, Sakib continued to rotate the strike and kept things going. I think 4 is best for him as he can assist ashraful or Aftab/Mushfiq. And I think I still couldnt figure out what shots he plays frequently. he seems to be playing differnt kind of shots each game.

On the contrary. Mushfique is perfect for that number 3 position in ODIs as he consists of a perfectly solid technique, ideal for a number 3 batsman.
In situations when we chase big totals, we can keep him down the order. But in a freeplay situation, let him bat there. He'll do fine.
And btw, sakib doesnt get run a ball 50's. He's not that type of player from what I've seen.

[TheWatcher]

Ashraful's ODI stats for Bangladesh, except matches against Zimbabwe -

                    Mat    I  NO  Runs HS1  HS2  HS3     Ave 100  50   0
 
Opening               23   23   0   351  66   56   52   15.26   0   3   4
3rd position           9    9   1    99  44   29   10   12.37   0   0   2
4th position          17   17   0   493 100   94   64   29.00   1   4   1
5th position          14   14   2   342  87   67*  35   28.50   0   2   1
6th position           6    6   2   110  60   38*   4*  27.50   0   1   0
7th position           2    2   2    53  45*   8*   -     -     0   0   0

This shows that he is much more successful in 4th and 5th positions comparing to any other position. But, as I said, I think he is under utilized at 5th position, there are ocassions he did not get to face enough balls from here. So, I think 4th position is the best for him.

[TheWatcher]

Originally Posted by Sumon77
I also like Watcher's line up, only concern is if sakib coop with no 3 position in case one opener leaves real early.

That's a valid concern. But Indian pacers looked very innocuous on Mirpur, Sakib should not have much trouble facing them here. Incase we lose a wicket real early (especially if it is JO) and it seems that Indian pacers are finding good swings or bounce (which is very unlikely), we can always send Mushfiq ahead of others.

[TheWatcher]

I have filtered out Ashraful's ODI stats against top eight teams, for postions opening to 5th. Once again, it turned out that he has a much better record at 4th position comparing to any other position.

Position	Mat	Inn	No	Runs	Avg	HS	100	50	Ducks
Opening	20	20	0	326	16.3	66	0	3	4
3rd	9	9	1	99	12.38	44	0	0	2
4th	14	14	0	407	29.07	100	1	4	1
5th	10	10	0	205	20.50	87	0	1	1

[Dhakablues]

Originally Posted by Mahir
Mushfiq is a straight-out waste at no 7. Without going into the matter of who's a better batsman, your no.3 doesnt necessarily have to be better than your no.4/5 inorder for him to bat ahead of no.4/5. If you've followed international cricket well enough, you'd have probably witnessed that a team's best batsman usually comes in at no.4/5 (Lara, Dravid, Inzamam). So the theory of sending better batsmen ahead of the less better batsmen is nonsense really. A batting-order is based on the capabilities of each batsman's style and how they bat, and what situation best suits them.

Having said that, Mushfiq may not have polished all of his skills already when it comes to batting higher in the order, but he has the potential AND has shown glimpses of his ability to bat high up the order. He has a textbook style of batting with a straight bat, and that really comes in handy, especially in the context of this Bangladesh team, which doesnt have opening combination a la Hayden/Gilchrist or Gayle/Chanderpaul to produce 100+ runs partnerships almost all the time.

And IMHO, your assessment of Mushfiq's inability to play an innings of run-a-ball 50 or a hard-hitting cameo is a bit premature, since he's had very little chance to show himself off so far. As far as my understanding goes, Mushfiq CAN hit sixes, as well as he can make a run-a-ball 50. He can also play the role of sheet-anchor perfectly. In other words, this guy has very good batting talent, and he follows instruction really well.

No offense, but I think Pointing is a good player, he bats at #3; Kallis, another good batsman, plays at 3, so is Ian Bell, Taylor. I dont really want to get into fight about how long we have been following " International Matches".. Our individiual preferences are just that,, individual. I am not attacking you about whether you have enough knowledge about cricket or not and so shouldnt you... If we all thought alike, gave preferences to the same logic,,, there wouldnt be any question about the batting order, would there? Lets just keep it at that and not get personal..

[Dhakablues]

Did anyone do any analysis of the last 2 years performance of the players? I think if you take all the matches,,, it probably wont reflect the right state of affairs of our players as the learning curve was steep for most of the x-1 generation players.. I kinda think Ashraful's average is better than 30 in the last 2 years..

[PoorFan]

Since Bashar will play through this series, put Bashar in bat ahead of Mashrafee! If we have wickets in hand and need quick runs then even after Rafiqe ( ahead of Razzak, Rasel ).

The best position for Bashar now is 9th! ( keeping in mind his 'run out' disease )

[cricket_dorshok]

Can we get rid of arrogant looser Bashar?