When are BD players gonna learn?

[DJ Sahastra]

In my opinion, it was not a bad performance at all. I had rather say, BD team scored 7/10 overall for the first ODI.

But that, IMO, is the only positive. Some things irk me. And that is the inability of the team to learn from the previous mistakes. How can you keep on doing the same mistakes over and over again?

Bashar, for his 50, would've got an 8/10. But i would give him only 4/10. The reason - he, in my opinion is one of the most underrated player in the BD team. He is the skills and is willing to fight. But when is he gonna learn to NOT to throw it all away when it matters the most? How about shepherding your team till the end, for once. How about not being satisfied with the 50s and 70s?

Ashraful is talented, no doubt. When he is on song, he is a pretty sight to watch. But then, how long can he keep failing his admirers more often than living up to their expectation. I don't mind his 5 runs off the 23 deliveries. What irks me is, when is this guy gonna learn to play straight and score in the "V". When is he gonna evolve from "talented" to "talented & consistent". You don't have to score 100 every match. But how about a normal 30 out of 45 deliveries? When is he gonna start that way and take it further?

Looking at how well spinners fared, i think Alok would've been useful. Though his replacement Tushar, if i go by the figures, seems to have bowled well too. He just didn't click with the bat.

And finally, All of the BD tailenders except for Rasel are good bats. Why do they throw it all away when the regular batsman have done well? They have often helped their team recover from lke 70-6 to past 150s. And when the team is so well placed, they just seem to run out of ideas. How about a little more seriousness to the approach?

They may have lost but i am happy at the way BD team fought. And kudos. I just hope this habit of throwing it all away changes.

And i also hope Lee doesn't become a perrennial thorn in the BD side. Last 4-batsman and more than 20 runs to get - The game is always on. Lee has been a damning batsman in the whole series.

[Carte Blanche]

Good post, though I think giving the team 7/10 is a tad generous.

One thing we have shown in this series is expose the inexperience of the Aussie batsmen and their vulnerability to quality spin bowling. The bowlers, in most parts, have played with a lot of heart and have spiritedly fought back from seemingly doomed positions. The batsmen have been the biggest letdowns with Ash and Bash being the main culprits. I don't see this team becoming a force anytime soon until/unless the supposed top order ace batters start converting those starts into something meaningful.

[Imtiazk]

What is it with ASSraful that he has to hit over the top. In Cardiff, as we all know, he scored a brilliant hundred ! I was at the ground and being there you could see the long off and long on posted on the boundary ! The very next ball after scoring his hundred , he wanted to clear long-on for a six ! Why ? Why not a virtually low risk drive for a run - the game was in our control. Only him getting out could have landed us in trouble, if, say, another one or two batsmen got out straightaway.

This penchant for sixes exposes a massive insecurity that he has. He craves for the kudos that rains on him for hitting sixes ! This is a problem with us all. We never tend to praise anyone who painstakingly builds an innings - terming them as boring. One of the reasons JO is so unpopular is partly because he was like that. Ironically, he is not anymore. I bet in years to come Rafique's belligerant 63 will be quoted far more than Rajin's 71 , say. Nobody will add a rider that it was hit as a swansong which had no effect on the result of the match.

[Carte Blanche]

You were at Sophia Gardens last year?

Oh man! Lucky lucky you!!

[DJ Sahastra]

Originally Posted by Carte Blanche
Good post, though I think giving the team 7/10 is a tad generous.

Actually the way BD bowlers fought after giving away 96 runs in the first 11 overs, 7/10 was a bit miserly and tad too strict.

The way the bowlers made Aussie batsman struggle - It made for a happy reading to someone like me. Commendable effort. It evokes self-belief.

The willingness to fight was all there. And fight they did. It is a little sad that these fights are not transforming into wins.

Batting - 6/10
Bowling - 8/10

[fwullah]

And i also hope Lee doesn't become a perrennial thorn in the BD side. Last 4-batsman and more than 20 runs to get - The game is always on. Lee has been a damning batsman in the whole series.

I thought Mashrafee was as good batsman as Lee. But hai selukas! ki bichitro ei desh! Mashrafee is proving to be only a good batsman against lower ranked teams (Zimbabwe, Kenya).

[DJ Sahastra]

Originally Posted by fwullah
I thought Mashrafee was as good batsman as Lee. But hai selukas! ki bichitro ei desh! Mashrafee is proving to be only a good batsman against lower ranked teams (Zimbabwe, Kenya).

I thought Mashrafe was the BEST player in the BD side. I always looked at him as talented bolwing all-rounder with good skills, aggressive approach and "don't give a damn" attitude. He came out as someone who doesn't get overawed by a batsman's reputation.

I don't know, i just hope his slump is temperory. Maybe he needs to be rested so taht he can clear his head.

And Lee has to be sorted out. His scores are frustrating me.

[Imtiazk]

Originally Posted by Carte Blanche
You were at Sophia Gardens last year?

Oh man! Lucky lucky you!!

Or , as a banner today at Chittagong today put it so charmingly, at Sufiya Gardens. Why not ? The origin of both the words is probably the same.

[DotBall]

What can I say about our batting????????? Nothing.
Bowling was good (spinners).
Captaincy was below par. Bashar did not try to win the game after we the Aussies 130 or so for 5. They were picking singles at will. Amader "sweet" Bashar bhai needs to get rid of his sweetness on the crcket field and get tough.
One thing that I thought that was bit funny was that we played the ODI (batting wise) in Test style and we played the Test in ODI style.
Never the less it was good to see the team fighthing hard.

[Imtiazk]

Originally Posted by DJ Sahastra
I thought Mashrafe was the BEST player in the BD side. I always looked at him as talented bolwing all-rounder with good skills, aggressive approach and "don't give a damn" attitude. He came out as someone who doesn't get overawed by a batsman's reputation.

I don't know, i just hope his slump is temperory. Maybe he needs to be rested so taht he can clear his head.

And Lee has to be sorted out. His scores are frustrating me.

My first doubts about Mashrafe's batting came last year here in England when he visibly moved away from a Harmison delivery which bowled him. It's no good saying he was coming back from an injury ! Anwar Hossain Monir [ remember him ? ] who probably is far worse a batter than Mashrafe had the guts to be in the firing line supporting Mashud.

To be absolutely honest, his batting has been pathetic. I liked Shahadat's 3 in supporting Rafique. He knew what he was capable of doing and was doing precisely that.

He is still a far better bowler than Shahadat but lacks the zip and fire ! He cannot be described as an all-rounder . Bangladesh does not have an all-rounder - not even Rafique.

[AsifTheManRahman]

yeah, the batting last night was horrible. rajin, nafees, ash and bashar all threw their wickets away. i would also blame aftab for not being able to read the slower one - soft hands, buddy...soft hands...not a half-hearted prod.

as for bashar's half century, i would say that while his inning did help us get out of the mess that we were in at one stage, and while it does show that he's finally learning how to play out the middle overs to some extent, he also failed to improvise on the bowlers. there was simply no trace of domination, and that was sad given that he was out there for almost 90 balls. he seemed pretty uncomfortable almost all of the time, although he did go for a couple of sexy heaves over mid wicket and a few others along the ground. the aussie bowlers were keeping things tight near the end, with nicely distinguished slower ones that were angling in and moving away after pitching. in fact bracken was bowling so far away from the stumps to get that angle in that one could have mistaken him for a "silly mid-off". however, the bowling was nothing all that special, and it was pathetic to see bashar getting beaten so many times, especially when you consider the fact that he had his eyes set in. when you do that, you are expected to lead the fireworks in the slog overs, but unfortunately he got out when we needed him the most. he was simply unable to dominate, and while his fifty saved our butts, he should have done more.

the lower order was also pretty pathetic. 5 wickets in 5 overs is all but anything to cheer about. when you get to 160 odd for 5 after the 40th over, something in the range of 230 to 240 is usually there for the taking.

at the end of the day, it ended up being just another one of those matches where you sigh and wonder what would have happened had we had another forty on the board.

i am also critical of the field setting near the end of the game, when we had just sent the sixth one home. with twenty two runs needed to win off thriteen overs or so, bashar should have surrounded lee on all sides. we were never going to win the match by containing them at that stage, so that it would have made sense to go for the kill, seeing that there was a new batsman on the crease. after all, we had nothing to lose at that stage, and miracles do happen once in a while. four wickets in the event of fifteen runs is not an impossibility, and i believe it was worth a shot.

[AsifTheManRahman]

however, i would like to congratulate the guys on making life hard for the australians nevertheless. rafique and rajjak - and surprisingly even tushar imran - were brilliant with the ball.

[Hatebreed]

I'm just very disappointed. Even though we lost to Australia it was mostly due our own mistakes.. I thought we'd do good with the bat, but as always we managed to throw our wickets away. Although I thought Razzak would cost us, look at what he did. Rafique as always was brilliant although unable to pickup wicket. I'm frustrated by the pacers, especially Masri.. what's happened to him?!.. and Ashrafool.. what can I say about him not already said?!

[TheWatcher]

There is no point talking about irresponsible acts of first four batsmen.

Tushar, I say, did ok. He was kind a unlucky that the ball suddenly bounced so much.

But, what, I think, could have been the turning point of the match would be to send Rafique ahead of Mashud. Bashar was doing a good job holding one end, sending an accumalator to the other end, at that point of the match, really did not make sense. Spinners were operating when the fifth wicket fell, it was an ideal situation for Rafique to come and ease the pressure of scoring from Bashar.

[hablu_kablu]

Our batsmen are not responsible.
In the 1st test australians showed how you have to be responsible when the team needs you, and BD batsmen like to throw away their wickets when it's needed the most.

Hats of to our bowlers, spinners specially.