if we are to win, this must be the XI

[al Furqaan]

in order to beat either India or SL, we have to exploit the power plays. so i feel that TI should play both matches against the big boys. his total runs scored may very well be less than what JO or rajin would provide, but he won't waste any balls (not a significant number anyways).

here is what our team should look like:

1 SN - he will be our Wall
2 TI - if he even hits 20 runs, we will be off to a flier and might rattle some bowlers too
3 Aftab - same role as TI
4 Saqib - the middle overs consolidator
5 Bashar - same as Saqib
6 Ash - same as Saqib and Bashar + end of innings slogger
7 Mortaza - slogger, should score big against india and SL
8 Rafique
9 Razzak
10 Rajib - depending on how he does against India, Rasel may/should come in for SL
11 Mushy - should be batting at 7, or wherever team management thinks is best

12th man - Rasel - tapash is proving to be a goner.

[Ehsan]

Only 2 pacers? I thought West Indian pitches favor pacers.

[HereWeGo]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
in order to beat either India or SL, we have to exploit the power plays. so i feel that TI should play both matches against the big boys. his total runs scored may very well be less than what JO or rajin would provide, but he won't waste any balls (not a significant number anyways).

here is what our team should look like:

1 SN - he will be our Wall
2 TI - if he even hits 20 runs, we will be off to a flier and might rattle some bowlers too
3 Aftab - same role as TI
4 Saqib - the middle overs consolidator
5 Bashar - same as Saqib
6 Ash - same as Saqib and Bashar + end of innings slogger
7 Mortaza - slogger, should score big against india and SL
8 Rafique
9 Razzak
10 Rajib - depending on how he does against India, Rasel may/should come in for SL
11 Mushy - should be batting at 7, or wherever team management thinks is best

12th man - Rasel - tapash is proving to be a goner.

Agreed ...except the fact where u want russel to come in..... Trust me on this, rasel is useless.... So even if Shahadat fails he still plays.... We should have picked sharif or Talha for Taposh and rasel... Neways with the team we got we cant afford to change our fast men or rest them in any match.

[ToeCrusher]

It has been some time since WI favoured pace bowlers. Most if not all the grounds have had their pitches relaid. Most likely to favour spinners. Don't think we can afford to play 3 seamers. Razzaq and Rafiq are are top bowlers. If we play 3 seamers, we'll only have to go in with 5 batsmen + Mushfiq. Too risky!

[al Furqaan]

i think we all have to recogonize that aftab is not ever going to be the complete package. he will really just be that slogger that will always score 30s, 40s, and occaisionally the big one. in terms of his approach, aftab is far stupider than ashraful (who unlike aftab implusively plays stupid shots). ash at least tries to play according to a gameplan, and then he fails. aftab just comes out with all guns blazing.

nevertheless, aftab and ash if they do what is expected at 3 and 6, will still be very valuable to our team. the sensible batting will be done by SN, sakib, bashar, and mushy.

thats not too bad, IMO. 4 sensible batsman, and 2 sloggers. we don't want any more than 2 sloggers in the top order, and probably 1 is ideal. but you also need at least 1 batsman who can throttle the attack. india has sehwag, uthappa, dhoni in their top 7. pak has just 1 in afridi (i don't think razzaq bats in the top 7, if he does, they have 2 as well). england has pieterson, aussies have gilly, SL have jaya. so all teams have the designated "go nuts from the get go" batsman, so its not necessisarly bad to have aftab fit this role.

[Miraz]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
in order to beat either India or SL, we have to exploit the power plays. so i feel that TI should play both matches against the big boys. his total runs scored may very well be less than what JO or rajin would provide, but he won't waste any balls (not a significant number anyways).

here is what our team should look like:

1 SN - he will be our Wall
2 TI - if he even hits 20 runs, we will be off to a flier and might rattle some bowlers too
3 Aftab - same role as TI
4 Saqib - the middle overs consolidator
5 Bashar - same as Saqib
6 Ash - same as Saqib and Bashar + end of innings slogger
7 Mortaza - slogger, should score big against india and SL
8 Rafique
9 Razzak
10 Rajib - depending on how he does against India, Rasel may/should come in for SL
11 Mushy - should be batting at 7, or wherever team management thinks is best

12th man - Rasel - tapash is proving to be a goner.

Exactly my playing XI against India. Now, if Shahadat sprays ball in this match, Rasel should replace him against SL.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by Ehsan
Only 2 pacers? I thought West Indian pitches favor pacers.

razzak and rafiq are too good to over a tapash and a rasel. i think SL are weaker against pace and swing, so perhaps we could play 3 quicks against them. but the wickets are being said to be more spin friendly these days.

[Pundit]

Yes, I miss Talha as well. No, not the kid from 2003, but the Talha-could-have-been. Did injuries put him behind?

Will Aftab be bowling, and if so, how well? Then we can have 2 pacers and room for the 2 Rs.

Its a easy choice team really. Tapash is of little good, and I don't know why Rassel isn't a sure deal? Sharif, for those of you who cry for him, is going no where. And most likely after this world cup, especially if we win a game without him, Tapash will be an after-thought. Its just that until we have so-so bowlers, we are going no where.

[ialbd]

tapash is to be dropped for sure and Rajib should get a chance in the very next match of this tri-series. If he fails Rasel takes over, if Rasel fails Rajib will be brought back again.

Tamim Iqbal will get a chance for the rest of the series (and possibly the NZ game) an all he needs to do is play 1 (ONE) significant innings (50+) to keep his spot for WC over Saleh & ki jani naam ta Javed na ki jani....

[Zobair]

Tamim must play. He complements Shahriar Nafees. Nafees has been round for a while now and he has established a formula that brings consistent success for him and the team. The formula involves him initially taking his time, carefully accumulating his first 30-40 runs before he opens up and builds a substantial innings. For him (and the team) to execute this formula we need a more attacking player at the other end who can keep the pressure off Nafees. Rajin and JO don't fit the bill. Whatmore has a tried and tested template and is looking to replicate the success he had with the SL team. In some respects one can see of some aspects of SL circa 96 (only some of course) in this BD team.

[Rubu]

Originally Posted by Ehsan
Only 2 pacers? I thought West Indian pitches favor pacers.

Thats what I have been complaining about all alone about the teams selected by BC members. How much success Rafique/Razzaq/Shakib had against this Bermuda? Going against SL/IND with 2 pacers is a scary thought to me. I want only one of Rafique/Razzaq play and Rasel comes in instead of that.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by Rubu
Thats what I have been complaining about all alone about the teams selected by BC members. How much success Rafique/Razzaq/Shakib had against this Bermuda? Going against SL/IND with 2 pacers is a scary thought to me. I want only one of Rafique/Razzaq play and Rasel comes in instead of that.

well i guess, if rasel comes in in place of razzak we won't be missing much. but here are razzak's stats against the big teams in his career:

Australia: 5 wickets @ 21.00, 4.28 econ
Sri Lanka: 2 wickets @ 55.00, 5.78 econ
India: 0 wickets, 4.00 econ
Pakistan: 3 wickets @ 21.66, 3.25 econ
West Indies: 0 wickets, 3.10 econ

totals: 83 overs, 350 runs, 4.21 econ, 10 wickets @ 35.00

thus razzak against these teams, has 10 wickets @ 35 and a solid econ of 4.21 better even than rafique.

against just india and SL his stats are noticeably weaker. 29 overs, 150 runs, 2 wickets...average of 75.00, econ of 5.17

which means that razzak struggles against India and SL (perhaps the best teams against spin), but his stats against the other top sides, in 5 full innings of bowling (aprox 54 overs) is quite good.

so perhaps it might be a good idea to play razzak only against non-India and non-SL teams.

[BD Tigers]

This is the team shud play against India. i hope Tamim succeed in next match. Shahadat shud play. We can live 2 pacers anyway cause Razzak comes to bowl by 10th over anyway as India/Srl goes beserk most of the time. So having 3rd quick will not do any difference. Aftab/Sakib can finish the 5th bowler quota.

[gatekeeper]

Originally Posted by Ehsan
Only 2 pacers? I thought West Indian pitches favor pacers.

This is actullay the best possible combination. Trinidad picthes are not known to do anything extra for the pacers. I'm happy to play just 2 pacers.

[Sovik]

if the pitches help pacers, aftab could be used as third seamer