Things to carry on and things to better for the future!

[Lovely_cr]

Big congratulations to BD boys. Well done! Now even though it’s a historical moment for Bangladesh cricket, it’s not the end of the world. There are few things to carry on and a lot to improve but we are on the right track.

Things to carry.
1. Partnerships: Today Asharaful and bashar had a great partnership which we missed in the early games.

2. Patient and the right decision: Again Ashraful and bashar showed a great patient and never got panicked. Took the necessary singles and hit the short bolls! Lovely!

3. Our Bowling start: really impressed by Mortaza who once again proved that he is our BEST bowler. His first 6 over was just perfect 6-2-5-1. It just don’t get much better then this.

4. Luck: Finally we had bit luck and it’s totally fear because we have been so unlucky both with the umpires and the catches.

Things to Improve:

1. Bashars field setting: I can understand that you go out with a special tactic in the beginning of the match. And it was obvious to restrict Australia and don’t let them have 300+. But as a good captain you have to change tactic based on the games. Australia was down by 2 at 9 and still bashar didn’t have any slip at time. Several catches went that way. And during the middle over what could Raffiq do? He was getting both turn and pace but there were no slip or gully. Bashar was waiting for a mistake from the batsmen instead of forcing them to make a mistake. They could easily get singles and save the wickets in order to hit our bowlers at last, which they did very successfully. With right field settings there could be up to 20-30 runs less to the Australians total, which even Davmore told to BBC.

2. A better start from our openers: They did well actually. Javed hang around up to the 19 over if I am not wrong. A bit concern about Nafes. It would be lovely if both could stick around together for a bit longer and get some runs in order to give us a steady start and good foundation for a big score or chase.

Anyhow its just a lovely day and Congrets to all BD fans too

[TheWatcher]

The batsmen need to keep their habit of frequently going for big shots down, just as they did today.

[Spitfire_x86]

Actually they went for a lot of big shots today, but all of the risks came into our favour (except Ash's dismissal)

[Spitfire_x86]

Ashraful was dropped by Gillespie at deep fine leg. He could also be stumped or bowled when he was in 70's.

Edited on, June 18, 2005, 10:49 PM GMT, by Spitfire_x86.

[Rubu]

a catch going into the sun came into our favore big time. if that catch was taken who knew what would happen. ponting deciding to bat first helped us a lot as well. the LBW at the beginning was not out even though looked very obvious in naked eyes but computer graphics showed it was not out. but that evened out with another LBW not given that showed by graphics that the middle went off. so, luck did play some part in our favore today.

looks like the lady luck has finally started to smile on us

Edited on, June 18, 2005, 10:52 PM GMT, by AgentSmith.

[TheWatcher]

Originally posted by Spitfire_x86
Actually they went for a lot of big shots today, but all of the risks came into our favour (except Ash's dismissal)

It was not that frequent, at least they did not try to hit every other ball to boundary as they did during the Test series.

But, yes, we had lots of luck today which we may not be able to carry in the next match.

Edited on, June 18, 2005, 11:14 PM GMT, by TheWatcher.

[Sham]

Originally posted by TheWatcher

It was not that frequent, at least they did not try to hit every other ball to boundary as they did during the Test series.

But, yes, we had lots of luck today which we may not be able to carry in the next match.

Edited on, June 18, 2005, 11:14 PM GMT, by TheWatcher.

Actually, they were smart about it today. Bashar for example tried to hit dead straight everytime he took the aerial route, thats a percentage shot and will come off more often than not.

The only criticism I have of the Bashar Ashraful partnership is that when they were consolidating after the loss of the third wicket, they didn't push for enough singles. When Aftab is at the crease, he will automatically get the strike rotating because he is such a wonderful placer of the ball. Bashar on the other hand is just not a nudge and single player, so no point expecting it from him at this stage of his career. Ashraful did okay, but I would have been happier if they were just a little more busy with trying to find singles in the middle overs.

By looking for singles, I don't mean that they should have tried to accelerate the run-rate or take any risks, but just do what Aftab does when the boundary balls dont come, place the balls in the gaps and run a quick one. Overall, the pacing of today's innings was perfect in the sense that they tried to keep wickets in hand for the final onslaught, which they timed to perfection. But, if we had gotten 10 or 15 more singles in the middle overs which we would have done if Aftab was at the crease, we would have had less pressure at the end. After the Aftab-Rafique partnership from the last game, I know we can do that, its now a question of the whole team embracing look-for-the-singles-policy.

[shaad]

One thing that was made clear from this ODI is the difference in our batting performance when we have wickets in hand. By not losing them as cheaply as we usually do, we were able to accelarate at the close, without having to worry about being all bowled out.

But I must say, I was very impressed by how our boys chased down the target, given that the run-rate was over 7 for a large portion of the innings.

[TheWatcher]

As you said Sham, Bashar did his best not to play unnecessary risky shots. Looking at his dismissal oneday career, today's match is a great relief. I hope he will keep continue playing sensible cricket, keep supporting younger players to build partnerships.

Edited on, June 18, 2005, 11:32 PM GMT, by TheWatcher.

[Piranha]

We should stick to this batting order. Bashar should bat lower and not at 3, while Aftab should stay exactly where he is.

[Sham]

I agree. Aftab is perfect at number 6 to play the Bevan sort of role. If we lose wickets early, he can rebuild by taking a lot of quick singles and then having a go at the end. If we can conserve till the end, he can come in and move up to 5th gear straight away. I would also keep Ashraful at 4 and Bashar at 5. Lets hope Tushar can make number 3 his own.

Edited on, June 19, 2005, 12:36 AM GMT, by Sham.

[Rubu]

agree. but tushar is a "make shift" number 3. will work for now. but the number 3 position is the most important for a team and we need a "genuin" number 3 for our team. wondering who can that be.

[TheWatcher]

Originally posted by AgentSmith
agree. but tushar is a "make shift" number 3. will work for now. but the number 3 position is the most important for a team and we need a "genuin" number 3 for our team. wondering who can that be.

At this point we don't have good options, but future options may be Nazimuddin (Test)/ Farhad Reza (onedays) (just a guess, it is too early to judge any of the above mentioned players).

[Sham]

Originally posted by AgentSmith
agree. but tushar is a "make shift" number 3. will work for now. but the number 3 position is the most important for a team and we need a "genuin" number 3 for our team. wondering who can that be.

What exactly is a genuine number three? Someone who plays at that spot in domestic cricket? Doesn't really make much sense. From the way Tushar played today, barring a couple of tentative pokes outside the off-stump, he looked fine against the new ball. He has the number three spot, its his to keep if he can perform there as far as I am concerned. If he can't, we can think of other options. He appears to me to be much better suited to it than Bashar, who has been occupying that spot for God knows how long!

[Rubu]

A genuin number three has to have quite a few charactaristic. First of all, if a opener fails quickly, the ability to face the new ball. second, if that happens within first 15 over, ability to take advantage of the fielding restriction. in other case when the openers does a good job, play slow innnigs to keep the momentum going so that it can be slogged at the end. in short ability to suit both opener and middle order condition. tushar is ok for this series but not a permanent solution. if rajin can get his form back, he can be a good prospect as he can do both.