First eleven for the 1st test

[samircreep]

Yo folks, with the first test looming, how about we all chime in with our opinions as to who should play?Here's my first eleven:

Sarkar, Al-Shariar, Bashar,Sanwar, Ashraful,Kapali,Pilot,Rafique,Taposh,Manju and Talha.

[Mahmood]

Replace Rafiq with Moni, and you got my vote.

[Sham]

The team has too many bowlers. If we have Ashraful and Sanwar, surely we don't need two spinners in Rafiq and Kapali. Since Kapali should get in to strengthen our batting, we can take another batsman. Otherwise, we have seven almost frontline bowlers and only five specialist batsmen.

Anyway, I'll suggest my team at the end of the Challenge Trophy.

[Edited on 7-11-2002 by Sham]

[Nasif]

I am waiting to see some batting spark from Nannu, will that happen?

[rafiq]

nannu managed to get 25 n.o. in the second innnings according to DS. highlights were wickets by talha, ashraful and a score in the 90s by rokon. no one else did anything spectacular, although hannan, javed omar got some runs. ashraful was woeful with the bat but took 8 wickets.

did moni even play? doesn't look like he is making much of a case for a return to the team so we may have to count him out for good.

if ashraful is coming back into the team, he could take the spinner's slot held by rafique.

that leaves room for another batsman. no one but ehsanul has scored runs on the A team, and BD senior team doesn't need another opener. so that means playing javed omar or bringing in someone from the A team who doesn't have much form - be it minhaz, bulbul or akram. akram is actually ahead of the other two based on recent form, isn't he.

i don't see any bowling changes.

[handle]

There are two more matches to be played yet. I think Golla stands to lose his spot if he doesn't perform well.

The only change I see (unless Nannu does something drastic next game) is may be Seezan or Ash being brought in to the team.

[Sham]

Rokon scored 95 which is great. I have a feeling that this might be his winter but I dont want to jinx him. Sanwar got some runs and so did Golla. Hannan scored in the first innings as did Ehsanul. All I can say is that atleast some of our guys are in decent nick. Unfortunately Ash isnt one of them. Excellent figures with the ball but aweful with the bat. I hope he gets some runs in the final, otherwise he will be a risk. Ash's strength is against spin, so if he isnt scoring against the BD pacers, its hard to see him scoring against the Windies quickies.

The highlight of the day is of course Talha's spell. Its always very heartening to hear of a good spell or two by the seamers in Dhaka. I was so happy to read that he got a couple of guys caught behind. The Dhaka wickets are so batting friendly that a hot spell by a young fast bowler is better than a batsman scoring a hundred.

On a personal note, Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium or Abahani maat as we called it brings back a lot of memories. I played my first Nirman game on that ground, scored 65 not out batting at three to win the game. In the same game, I gave away about 46 runs in 6 overs. Pretty much sums up the pitch. One can go on the front foot and drive on the up with complete ease because absolutely nothing happens off the pitch. A seamer needs a lot of heart to bowl on that strip which is why Talha's performance is even more significant.

[fwullah]

How about playing Ashraful at number 8 after Alok Kapali at 6 and Pilot at 7?

In that case, 9, 10 and 11 positions are fixed for Talha, Tapash and Monju.

Shanto could also come in for 1 test instead 1 of these three as the pitches will not be great for the above 3 pacers like in South Africa.

In that case, Ehsanul could also come in like the following:

1) Hannan
2) Rokon
3) Ehsanul
4) Sumon
5) Sanwar

[Zobair]

I really like fwullah's team...especially for the ODIs....may be for tests we could have one of the older dudes...may be Bulbul....

[rafiq]

what is sumon's best position, for those of you using wisden analytical tools. is it 3 or 4? if it is 4 then who is our best #3?

curious to see ashraful proposed at number 8 - didn't he open sometime in the past? maybe 8 is the right spot for him.

[Mahmood]

I vote for 8.

[Sham]

Cant agree there. Ashraful is a batsman to begin with. Lets not forget that. And one with significant potential. He might not be performing well and he needs to tighten his game up. But if he must be in the team, we should give his batting a chance. If we play him at 8 and basically make him bat with the tail-enders, we are not giving his batting any chance. Even on a day that his batting comes off, he is going to run out of partners. What good is that? If he is in the team, he should bat atleast at 6. On a good day, he scores runs, and on a bad day, he isnt going to score whether at 6 or 8!

[Pundit]

Ashraful's bowling performance in the challenge cup is really of little significance. What's shameful is that an irregular bowler like him comes out with these figures. Just goes to say that in terms of self-motivation and concentration, BD batsmen have a far way to go, still.

Also, his batting potential far outweighs his bowling. Any true BD fan should really be hoping for him being able to make it into the team by side-lining the likes of Bulbul, Nannu, and Akram Khan !

[Sham]

Yes I agree completely. Ash is a batting all-rounder at best and should only be in the team if he can stake a claim with his batting. He hasn't done that so far. There seems to be a lot of Ash supporters on this board but I don't think many of them have actually seen him bat.

So far, looks like Rokon, Hannan, Sumon and Sanwar are certain to be in the team. If we play Kapali at 6 to accomodate an extra bowler, then we have one batting place left and we should really take an in-form batsman. I would have Golla, Seezan and Bulbul ahead of Ash. If we play Kapali at 7 and Mashud at 8 with the three pacers to come, then perhaps we could play Ash as a batsman and a support spinner. However, Ash will definitely have to score big runs in the challenge trophy finals to get into the Test side.

[Mahmood]

Ash came in the team as a bowler, not batsman. Now with his current performence, he can only come in as a bowler, thus bat 7-11.

Yeah, when he bats consistently, sure, get him in as allrounder at 5/6 or even get him in as batsman 3/4.

Not now. If he does come, he has to come in as bowler and bat at 7/8.

[Tehsin]

Lot of fans of Bulbul over here (I am one of them) but Bulbul bechara hasn't done anything in the two matches. On the other hand, Akram Khan (who has said that he was trying to lose some weight recently) has had some good nicks in the two matches. Nannu is still raggedy. Which is not a surprise as he did not have any match practice since the league was over.

we need to have a summer season somewhere. Have friendly tournaments to keep the players busy.

By the way, Ash gets in at 6 or 7 depending on his batting performance in the final, i wouldn't get too excited about that bowling.

Rafique took 5 and Sumit took 3 today against the dev team, does those wickets count ? No. On the same token, Rokon, Hannan and SUMON tin jon 50 run er modhdhe out, that's pathetic. Sanwar and GOLLA are still batting and both SHOULD post solid totals to make this match worth anything.

[Edited on 9-11-2002 by tehsin]

[Sham]

Ash came in to the team as a bowler? Are you sure?

If I remember correctly, he came into the team as a batsman after his exploits against the Australian Academy side that toured and then at the under-17 level where he was an opening batsman. In his first Test, he batted at 6 and bowled 10 overs out of over a 100. I think he was playing as a batsman all-arounder. Definitely not as a bowler!

[samircreep]

I'm not sure Sanwar, Ash et al. actually qualify as "frontline" bowlers.In fact, aside from Talha, I'm not sure that we even have any front line bowlers. I still think that Ash should play at no.5, although I think a lot of strong arguments can be made for Bulbul.Also, going in with 7 batsmen is not a good idea.If 6 can't do the job, 7 won't make a difference.

On another note, I was at the Abahani ground all day yesterday.After 5 years, it's good to be back there, really missed the stands and the atmospehere. The pitch hasn't changed much though, it's completely dead.Someone said that Rafique and Sumit's wickets don't count.In spite of the weak opposition, they do. Both bowled a nagging length, especially Sumit who I think bowls with a nice loop.This guy should be given more chances.

I was also surprised to see how much more knowledgeable the local public has become in regards to our cricket.Our tests status has definitely prodeced a cricket savy crowd, if not anything else.

[Sham]

You are right about the Dhaka crowd, they are very knowledgeable. Its not necessarilly Test Status that has done this but the amount of cricket they get these days on both TV as well as on our grounds. In 1998 alone, we hosted India and Pakistan for our Independence Cup in January and then all the then Test playing nations for the ICC Trophy in Oct-Nov. And of course, after Test status, we have been getting a steady diet of home games. But more importantly, think of the amount of cricket thats on TV these days. You cant escape it. Between Star/ESPN/TEN there is always some cricket game/highlight/triva on. I think the advent of cable as a household thing, atleast in Dhaka and other urban areas has had the greatest impact on this.

[James90]

If so:

Rokon
Hannan
Golla
Sumon
Sanwar
Nannu
Sujon
Rafique
???Shanto???this is reserved for MASRI
Monjural
Talha

[Tehsin]

Kapali is OK. He was sent home to rest a few days. Rafiqul is still under observation as he was still feeling dizzy. Doctors gave him a thumbs up but BCB dropped the poor guy from the team.

Rokon
Hannan
Golla
Sumon
Sanwar
Akram/Ashraful
Pilot
Kapali
Tapash
Talha
Manju

The number six slot is open even though I have Akram and Ash there.

[Pundit]

Yes, that no 6 spot is full of controversy.

Also, don't be surprised if Taposh's full recovery is hampered by some freak incident - like his 1lb reading book on "How to be a better bowler" lands on his corona after Chip the puppy pet dog howls at him from behind.

[fwullah]

After the on-going match against BCB Development squad, and also after the final, I am sure I will be having second thoughts about the following team too, but so far, this is what my team is like until today (and also after giving it a little thought):

1st Test:

1) Hannan - obviously the man in form
2) Javed - not in form, but I believe that he still has it in him to face the West Indies pacers with the new ball
3) Rokon - Opening should never have been his job
4) Sumon - Could have scored a lot more runs if our openers had not gone out as quickly as they usually do in both forms of the game
5) Sanwar - Its a shame that he still hasn't got a test fifty and only 1 fifty vs Zim in one dayers so far
6) Kapali - should have taken at least 1 wicket against South Africa
7) Pilot - Da Man, but I still suspect his batting technique against quickies
8) Ashraful - whether as a bowler or as a batsman, or even as an allrounder, he should be in the team - he was in his maiden test batting at number seven, if not for his hundred, he still could have been batting at number seven instead of sometimes 1 or 2 or in the middle order - exposing his weakness against pace bowling
9) Sumit - Should be given more chances in International matches
10) Talha - His energy should not be wasted too much on dead pitches of Bangladesh
11) Monju - Poor Monju, he has to sacrifice his pace for bowling line and length

2nd Test:

1) Hannan
2) Rokon
3) Sumon
4) Sanwar
5) Nannu - only if Javed fails to perform in the 1st test, Nannu can get in - at the Chittagong test match
6) Kapali
7) Pilot
8) Ashraful / Rafique - If Ashraful does not take 2 or 3 wickets in the 1st test, then Rafique could come in the 2nd test
9) Sumit
10) Shanto - he is only in the side to rest Talha - we need Talha in the South African pitches more than we need Shanto
11) Tapash - To rest Monju; if we had taken this type of precaution earlier, we might have been fortunate enough not to get so many fast bowlers of ours injured at the same time - like Mashrafe and Sharif.

Don't forget, the one day series is first up; so players who do not perform well in the one day series and do not show a good form, they could well be banished from the test squads.

[Sham]

I guess I could live with your team for the First Test, although I think there are too many spinners. As for the Second Test, I don't really understand what you are trying to do!

If a batting change needed to be made, and the selectors decided to fill it with an oldie, surely Akram and Bulbul are ahead of Nannu at this point after their performances so far in the Challenge Trophy. But before all of them, Ehsanul Huq deserves another chance.

As for bringing in Shanto in the second Test, what could that possibly achieve? When 35 year olds play five test series', why would we want to rest a 17 year old Talha in a 2 test series? The whole point is to give guys like him experience at the highest level, not play deadbeats like Shanto. Our bowlers didnt get injured because they played too much. They got injured because of other reasons and then aggravated it by not taking care of their injuries. An injury can happen anytime anyplace, like Masri found out while skipping in Narail. That doesn't mean we should start resting perfectly fit players. Playing Talha and Monju in the first test and Shanto and Taposh in the second Test makes no sense to me at all.

[rafiq]

it is almost impossible to pick a separate team for the 2 tests because we don't know who will play well in the first test. nor do we know who will play well in the one dayers, which will influence test selection. we should talk about the one day team as well, it's time BD went with somewhat different looks for the 2 teams.

Although I understand the concern for resting players, I don't think dropping an in-form player from the 2nd test is necessary to rest them for South Africa.

i think the challenge trophy has so far not produced anyone that can replace the "core" test team from the SA tour, except for the extra batsman slot we have been talking about. That is actually a good thing, because we want the same core team to stay together.

Rather, people may be playing for a slot on the 15 man WI tour team. In my opinion, it is a question of who is a lock for a slot and who is on the bubble:

DEFINITE FIRST TEST STARTERS (MAYBES IN CAPS):

hannan
JAVED
rokon (like him better at 3)
bashar
sanwar
OPEN BATSMAN/ ALLROUNDER SLOT
kapali (should bat ahead of pilot unless we are 21-5)
pilot
monju
talha
taposh

that's 10

REST OF 15 MAN TEAM (MAYBES IN CAPS):

ashraful - first eleven or backup allrounder
EHSANUL - backup batsman, might lose out to one of the seniors
MONIR - backup pacer. shanto, et al are a joke in the modern day (not disrespecting past contributions)
AKRAM OR BULBUL OR NANNU - only one, possible first eleven instead of ashraful
RAFIQUE OR MONI - backup spinner, not sure about sumit beating out both of these players