Asking the hard question...

[Fazal]

After all those Hum Korenga Tum korenga... learning new tricks.... need to stay in the wicket.....minimize high risk shots....trying to teach the old dog new tricks.... one thing is clear now.... regardless how talented Ash is, he is not going to learn anything.... he is going to play "his way" that he usually plays.... therefore regardless how talented he is... he will continue to have low success rate.


His play really disappointed me. He was not over matched, but for some reason he decided to attack more than it is needed for the current situation. As a captain he set a wrong precedence and that may influenced SN also. And we saw both of them gone unnecessarily and just before lunch.


I know it will be very unpopular question. But I think its time to ask the hard question.

Is it better for Ash as well as for the team if Ash rather dedicate his career in 20=20 and ODI only and retire from TEST?


I know it will create lots of hurt burn and emotional out burst. But I am sorry, I have to ask that question after hoping some changes in Ash's approach before this series and then seeing his 20-20 type innings.

[Rifat]

no, keep on fighting

[Nocturnal]

খাম্বা কই??

[Miraz]

Leave that stupid alone, he is still our best Test batsman.

[bharat]

Most of you guys wouldnt agree with me but I think Ash is unnecessarly burdened with Capatancy.

Its not that Ash is a senior or a master strategist that he should be entrusted with capatancy.However ... he is by far the best batsmen and a natural talent ..so why not let him concentrate on his batting.I am daam sure that he would bat much better than what he is doing now.Same thing happened with Sachin.

It is not always that the Best player needs to be the captain ..it is counter productive.

Trying to think of an international captain who happens to the best ...I cant think of none except Ponting.

not V.V Richards
not Sachin
not Flower
not Miandad
not M.Waugh

why Ash ?

[DJ Sahastra]

The problem is, there is no one challenging his place given the mediocrity all around.

So he'll continue to be reckless. Which is sad given he is an immensely talented cricketer who will never know what he could've been.

[Rabz]

Bharat, thats becuase simply he is the ONLY player,beside Mashrafee, who is almost certain to feature in both forms of the game.

its just that we dont hv any other options...

[bharat]

Originally Posted by Rabz
Bharat, thats becuase simply he is the ONLY player,beside Mashrafee, who is almost certain to feature in both forms of the game.

its just that we dont hv any other options...

I see the point ..but frankly entrusting the captancy to another player might be the way out.

Fleming , when he started his captancy was no one and hardly could keep his place but he grew with his captancy.Sakib might be a good choice ..he too might go Fleming's way.

The premise here is that Ash is too valuable for BD to be toyed around, the team should look somewhere else to push the captains bogey ...


Mash would be a bad choice considering his fragile fitness.All in all Sakib might be a good choice, especially because he is an allrounder and a utilty player.Alok too could be an option...but for my money not Ash

[Rabz]

To be honest, im not that fanciful about the idea of Sakib being the captain.
He is turning out to be a good useful allrounder for the team.
A good solid middle order batsman and handy with his SLA.

Captaincy is never good for an allrounder, except some strong characters like Imran Khan. See what happened to Flintoff?

Kallis, despite his seniority, never been burdoned with captaincy.
He is simply outstanding with both bat and ball and thats how it should be.

Nafees was tried earlier to be a prospect. But he too lost his form, esp in a time, when they were looking for captain.

But i still think he is still in the running.

Let me tell you this, Ash is not gonna be a captain for too long.

[cricket_fanatic]

Originally Posted by Fazal

Is it better for Ash as well as for the team if Ash rather dedicate his career in 20=20 and ODI only and retire from TEST?

Ash rarely scores runs in tests "when it really matters" such as in the first innings. Other than the 130+ knock against SL in 2006 I dont remember any other innings of note from him in test matches when the team really needed it (his 158 and 67 against India, both wonderful knocks, came in 2nd inns when the matches were as good as lost; same with his 100's in SL).

This is not answer to the above question but I reckon this is sth we'll just have to live with!!!

[WarWolf]

Originally Posted by Rabz

Let me tell you this, Ash is not gonna be a captain for too long.

Let me tell you this, Ash won't be in the team after five years. And he won't be a memorable character in Bangladesh cricket.

[bulbul_fan]

bd shud stop playing test cricket as a whole!

[al Furqaan]

disappointed as i am, this is a hair trigger thread. don't get me wrong, i wanted to tear ashraful's hair out when he got out...but at the same time we have to realize that we have not 5-6 twenty-somethings in our squad, but practically the entire squad. and especially so when rafique and bashar (if?) will retire.

if you 5-6 twenty-somethings in squad from a cricket-rich country like india you have the up-down roller coaster of the CB series.

we have 9, soon to be 11 youths, with no cricketing pedigree...hence we have the dumb shot after dumb shot. it will take years, but these guys will learn on the job. they have to. they might never develop into a dravid, ponting, or kallis...but they might become a ganguly or a sarwan.

[abu2abu]

This is indeed a tough question, but the wong one to ask. Ash is arguably a better test batsman than a one day one. He only has one ODI hundred to his name and scored a test hundred long before he scored his ODI one.

The only player I can think of who should retire from tests and concentrate on limited overs (based on recent form) is aftab ahmed...

[abu2abu]

Originally Posted by bharat
Most of you guys wouldnt agree with me but I think Ash is unnecessarly burdened with Capatancy.

Ash was made captain because the selectors thought it would make him a more responsible batsman. He captained his Dhaka club side before and his form improved, the selectors were hoping for more of the same.

whether it has worked on not remains to be seen. But I think Ash will remain captain for the forseeable future...

[riaz131]

Hard question would be...I don't care how other players are doing, why are we keep playing Habla? Why are we keep kicking the dead horse? He is absolutely abominable !!! I know he does not want to retire, but should not selector be dropping him already?? And, please Bashar fan if you don't like my question, I don't want to hear from you.. oooo... he is Mr. 50. Wait till he get back with his "Form" (which I am still unable to see). I don't care if he scores 250 in the next innings, it's time selector bid him a due. Calling all selectors.... Please drop Mr. Habla and put him out of his misery.

[sadi]

Aftab was the top scorer today. Anyways, Ash's innings frustated me also. I guess there is nothing we can do about it. This is how he plays. He needs to play a few shots in the beginning of the innings to get comfortable and then he can play it out. I know it doesn't go with the basic of test cricket where one is supposed to get set and then play their shots. Bashar was kinda the same in his early days. Funny isn't it?

[tonoy]

Time again Ash has supported my theory of him turning out to have the same fate as Shahid Afridi. They both have good eyes, but never an intelligent one. They will have very limited success and people will eventually get used to it.

[sharifk]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
disappointed as i am, this is a hair trigger thread. don't get me wrong, i wanted to tear ashraful's hair out when he got out...but at the same time we have to realize that we have not 5-6 twenty-somethings in our squad, but practically the entire squad. and especially so when rafique and bashar (if?) will retire.

if you 5-6 twenty-somethings in squad from a cricket-rich country like india you have the up-down roller coaster of the CB series.

we have 9, soon to be 11 youths, with no cricketing pedigree...hence we have the dumb shot after dumb shot. it will take years, but these guys will learn on the job. they have to. they might never develop into a dravid, ponting, or kallis...but they might become a ganguly or a sarwan.

spot on al Furqaan..

We must understand that our team is in the forming stage, and we have got the best talents (bar HB) in the team in the process of many changes. Now we have gotta give these guys chances to learn from their mistakes. We must believe in them in tough times, and they will come through them. I like the fact that they have fought back and have come back to the game. And we must remember it's a game of 5 days and even the experience guys do mistakes like the way Kallis was leaving his stumps..so stop talking about major changes all the time...

[abu2abu]

Aftab was top scorer today, but did you see the way he got out? He does have a single ODI or test century to his name and the only time he even remotely looked like making a big scroe was when he scrored 85 against england in 2005 (again in a losing cause, when the pressure was off).

Ash when he's in good touch) looks like any score is gettable. On this basis if any1 should retire from tests to concentrate on ODIs it should be aftab...

[abu2abu]

Originally Posted by riaz131
I don't care if he scores 250 in the next innings, it's time selector bid him a due.:

the correct term is "adieu"...

[Tigers_eye]

lol, I am laughing my rear off. HB, J Lo hasn't retired yet. You want Ash to retire?

Live with the following facts:
Tamim: One match 50 another one single digit woohoo. soft dismissal.
Junaid: They can't get me out. I give catch practice to the slip. Foot work? what is it? I thought hand-eye is enough.
HB: after customary 10 runs woohoo, soft dismissal. Did my job. My average ensures I am undroppable.
SN: after customary 25 runs woohoo, soft dismissal. Did my job.
Ash: after customary 30 runs woohoo, soft dismissal. Did my job.
Aftab: If he can survive, after customary 40 runs woohoo, soft dismissal. Did my job.
Shakib: after customary 30 runs woohoo, soft dismissal. Did my job.
Mushi: after customary 5 runs of 25 balls woohoo, soft dismissal. Did my job. I am the GB.

We have our best batsmen in the tail.

Abdur Razzak, Shahadat and Mash.

On the average, the above is more than true. Take it to the bank.

[Shobha]

The problem with ash is that he never learns.
i actually do think that before he goes on field to play he sets aims for himself to play sensibly. but as soon as those balls start flying in, he becomes a psycho and just cannot help himself.

[irteja]

why blame Ash when most of the Batsman fail?

[PoorFan]

Hard question has no easy answer ... especially when BD team is concern, thats how I feel.