Dailystar on Ashraful

[Tehsin]

What's eating Ashraful?
Al-Amin, from Cape Town

The fate of Bangladesh's most naturally talented batsman hangs in the balance as the Tigers prepare for their first World Cup game against Canada.

Mohammed Ashraful may be considered as the most exciting prospect in the Bangladesh squad but it will come as no surprise if the team management drops him from the opener at Kingsmead on February 11.

It was learnt that the Bangladesh think-tank was happy to field the same XI that played in the last lead-up game against Kwa-Zulu Natal and Ashraful's estranged approach has only contributed to him falling out of favour.

The grim face of the usually jovial 18-year at the Holiday Inn hotel on Friday gave credence to the rumors surrounding Ashraful and even captain Khaled Mashud and manager ASM Faruque indicated that something was definitely wrong with him. It is also being said that so bad is his mental condition that he is in urgent need of shrink-aid.

"He is not scoring runs. Apart from that, he is repeating the same mistakes even after being told repeatedly not to play pull shots and flashy square cuts. Gordon Greenidge had also tried to instill some sense into him but with little result," said a frustrated Mashud.


Faruque on the other hand observed that something was not quite right with him psychologically.


"We are trying hard to inject a bit of confidence in him. But apparently his head is not ready to accept it. I have talked to South African psychologist Clinton Greyward about it and he has agreed to have a special session with Ashraful," said Faruque.


Greyward conducted ten sessions with each player during his association with the Bangladesh team which ended in Namibia.

However, it is debatable whether going to the mind-doctor would end Ashraful's problems and many feel that too much pressure is being put on the youngster unfairly.

His lack of runs against Namibia and Natal could be attributed to the fact that he is in his first tour to this part of the world. Even Habibul Bashar, Hannan Sarker and Tushar Imran, who had been to South Africa before, are struggling on the pacey and bouncy pitches here.

Regarding his technique, pull shot and square cut are his natural strokes and Ashraful plays them better than any of his teammates because of his gifted reflex. These are the two most productive strokes on South African pitches and Ashraful is a lesser player without them.

Expectation of Bangladeshi fans will always skyrocket when the youngest centurion in Test cricket goes out to bat because of the manner in which he plays. Ashraful is probably the only Bangladeshi with the ability to take the attack to any opposition. Time to time his youthful-exuberance will cost him his wicket but if he is there in the middle for a significant period, he can decide a match on his own. Hopefully the team management will give that thought a serious consideration before finalising the starting line-up for February 11.
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Interesting.

[Tehsin]

Mashud, who before leaving for South Africa dropped a bombshell by saying he intended to quit after World Cup, now believed that things had changed for the good.

"Namibia was a perfect preparatory ground for us after toiling on unimpressive wickets at home. I was amazed to see the top-class wickets at the Wanderers."

He also added that playing on those wickets had helped the cricketers improve their techniques.

"They might not have such big stands like the ones in our county, but they care most for the wickets and the ground which is very important," Mashud observed.

Taken from DS. There's more on the sports page. Anyone knows when (and where) Ds posted their WC special ?

[deshitrader]

This Ashraful situation sounds really sad. I do hope he manages to snap out of whatever mood he is in. It would be a pity if he were not able to play up to his potential in SA simply because he wasn't able to take the pressure.

In any case, even if Ash is not fielded because of this, I hope the selectors will at least replace Hannan Sarkar with Sanwar. I dont see any point in fielding the exact same side from the 2nd warmup.

[DOORBIN]

This is the worst news I have received so far in 2003.

Please let me shout now --

PLEASE LET HIM PLAY. PLEASE. LET HIM PLAY HIS NATURAL GAME. LET HIM NOT SCORE ANY RUNS. LET WHATEVER HAPPEN. BUT PLEASE LET HIM PLAY. DON'T RUIN ASHRAFUL'S CAREER. NO.

NO.

NO.

Please let him play his natural shots. Pull shots, square cuts, whatever. If he makes mistakes, let him make mistakes.

We shouldn't be so selfish only to want to gain, not lose. To gain something in the long run, we must be prepared to sacrifice something today. To Bangladesh, Ashraful is a GOLD MINE. Please let him develop naturally. PLEASE.

EKTI BINITO ONURODH.

[Sham]

I don't agree. If Ashraful is not scoring runs, if he is out of form and not himself psychologically, he should not be in the team.

However, in this particular case, I believe he should. Not because he is a goldmine, not because he is the youngest centurian in Test cricket, but because Tushar and Hannan have not done anything better. I mean, selectors can say, we will not pick Ash because he hasn't scored runs. But that applies more to Hannan than anyone else. Hannan has the worst average among the batsmen in Namibia and SA. How can he be fit for selection and Ash be overlooked.

Actually, even more importantly, how can Hannan be picked and Sanwar be overlooked? If we go into the Canada game with the same team that played KZN on the 5th, that will be a farce! It just seems like Hannan and Tushar have some Mamas amongst the high-ups.

[fwullah]

Sham's words: Actually, even more importantly,
how can Hannan be picked and Sanwar be overlooked?

My words: Actually, even more importantly, how can Tushar Imran be picked and Sanwar be overlooked?

In Sham's words, Hannan should not get the opportunity, but he is getting in on the basis of his test score - Hannan is scoring at least some runs opening in test cricket.

But Tushar Imran is nowhere. His test performance is also not good as Hannan's. I should say that Tushar has lost his form just the way Opee lost his form after his debut international season.

But I have my confidence on Ashraful that may be in one match, when Bangladesh will go all out for 57 all out may be against South Africa, then Ashraful will score a fifty in that match and among those 7 runs, 2 or 3 runs will come as extras.

[Sham]

Tushar has played a couple of decent ODI innings. Hannan has done that in Test cricket, but the difference is, every major innings Hannan has put together has been with the help of three lives. The thing with Hannan is, he does play the drive well, and he plays it often. So he scores a lot of fours through the off side. But his footwork is generally poor and he gets carried away, which as an opener he should learn to check.

Tushar seems to me, having seen him against SL last summer, to be a more complete player, although right now, he is hopelessly out of form.

Actually, who is better between Hannan and Tushar should be an irrelevant debate. Neither deserves to be in the team. But looks like both will be.

[Tehsin]

he did have some decent scores recently. Better then Tusher atleast and does have more promise than Hannan .. no doubt about that. Give him a shot against Canada and he might score his maiden one day hundred.

[rafiq]

fwullah was right about thenatal 2nd game team not changing perhaps. in an effort to better synch myself with the selectors, i had my last wisdom tooth taken out this week for those of you who missed that rather engaging thread.

[DOORBIN]

Anyone knows ?

It would be SAFE to let him play agianst Sri Lanka, at least.......

(Eid Mubarak to all of you, and best wishes)

[Tehsin]

Some of you missed this but the bowling we faced against Natal missed couple of their regulars that were reintroduced against India.
You can't really look at results from two different games against two completely different teams. If you do, you'd think Danish Kaneria and Grant Flower were the best spinners alive (they buried us).
Just because the team won, doesn't mean it had great chemistry or whatever you found there. They would have probably won with sanwar and Ash in the team. Now, the performers should be given a shot but those who failed (not just in that match) should be benched to let in a consistent performer (sanwar was benched for several games despite doing above average in the few chances he recieved, doesn't make him an absolute choice but does qualify him for a slot).

What you plan to do is equivalent to bringing in Anwar to open a match just because he put some decent score in some friendly/warm up matches. Tusher and Hannan (unless he gets three lives in a match) are pretty useless at this moment. We NEED to win against Canada so we need the performers, not this two duds (current form). I must add that, against teams like Canada (and I am hoping) Tusher/Hanna/Sanwar/Ashraful won't make much difference. Anyone of them can click. Still, it's good to be precaucious.

[handle]

Ashraful is very talented no doubt, but he needs to learn to play big innings consistently. It's not about playing 3 great pull shots and square cuts and then getting out on the 4th ball.

Until he demonstrates he can do that, he'll have to be benched in favor of Tushar/Sanwar.