First test preview : Bangladesh face stiff challenge on test return

[Miraz]

Here's our preview bulletin for first Test..


Current Tour

India in Bangladesh, 2007
Bangladesh face stiff challenge on Test return
17 May 2007
Bangladesh is playing their first Test match after a break of 13 months in Chittagong on Friday, the same venue where they played their last test against Australia in April 2006.
During this period, Bangladesh has made significant progress in ODIs winning 21 out of 35 matches, which included World Cup win against India and South Africa.

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[Tigers_eye]

Nice read indeed.

"Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar, who has scored 2.838 runs in 42 tests, is cautiously optimistic about Bangladesh?s prospect in the test series."


Miraz bhai, 2.838 ta 2,838 hobay. I know it's a typo but a vital stat, needs to be fixed.

The only win we had was at Chittagong where we are playing the first game. That is a significant information too. I hope we surprize them and finish it in 4 days.

[Miraz]

Originally Posted by Tigers_eye
Nice read indeed.

"Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar, who has scored 2.838 runs in 42 tests, is cautiously optimistic about Bangladesh?s prospect in the test series."


Miraz bhai, 2.838 ta 2,838 hobay. I know it's a typo but a vital stat, needs to be fixed.

The only win we had was at Chittagong where we are playing the first game. That is a significant information too. I hope we surprize them and finish it in 4 days.

Thanks T_E bhai, corrected.

[zahid]

2.838! lol

[Dhakablues]

I think for the first time in a very long time, I like the selection. All the players ( except Rajib maybe) are specialist in their own numbers. I wish we had a medium pacer but cant suggest a name that is appropriate for Test. Going with 4 bowlers gives the impression that defence is going to be the strategy and that makes sense. Though, Sakib/Rajin/Ashraful can bowl as well. It was a tough decision to leave out Mehrab as he was playing really good in the academy 4 day matches but Sakib definitely deserves the inclusion in the final X1 due to his proven ability... I think we are up for an interesting Test match..

[akabir77]

I found the following article in yahoo and look what they r saying...

Full-strength India ready for pepped-up Bangladesh (PREVIEW-LEAD, superseding earlier story)

Thursday May 17, 12:56 PM



Chittagong, May 17 (IANS) For the first time in their seven-year Test history, a confident Bangladesh will hope to be competitive against a full-strength India in the first Test match starting here Friday.
Drawing confidence from their recent performances, especially in the World Cup last month, Bangladesh will attempt to capitalise on the local conditions and spectator support in this port city.

Bangladesh have never won a Test match in their history B. They have managed to draw only four matches out of 44 played since making their debut in 2000 against India in Dhaka.

India have played only three Tests so far against Bangladesh and won all of them.

But their stunning wins over India and South Africa in the World Cup in the West Indies have boosted Bangladesh's morale sky high and the players today are more confident than before.

It is, however, pertinent to note that those wins came in over-specific matches, while the Bangladeshi players still do not seem to posses the wherewithal to take 20 opposition wickets in a Test, in other words bowl them out twice in five days, or play long innings.

Habibul Bashar's boys are essentially stroke players. However, they are learning fast and improving. If they play a few more Test matches they would improve rapidly.

Bangladesh's problems could increase as Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who were ignored for the just concluded One-day International series that India won 2-0, have joined the team along with V.V.S. Laxman and Wasim Jaffer, Anil Kumble, Vikram Raj Vir Singh and Rajesh Pawar.

Pawar, a left-arm spinner, is the only player in the squad who has not played a Test.

The addition of these players has given strength to an Indian team that had looked far superior in the rain-marred ODI series (the third match was abandoned). India's batting is their main strength and captain Rahul Dravid will look up to his batsmen to contribute handsomely towards the team total.

There could, however, be a selection problem for the Indian opening pair as there is only one specialist opener in Jaffer in the 15-member squad.

Dravid has opened successfully in the past and if he does that role again, it will give him more flexibility in picking the XI.

In the bowling department, Kumble, India's highest wicket taker in Tests, is the most experienced player and he will look to quickly grab three wickets that would take him to 550-wicket mark.

Left-arm Zaheer Khan is the pace spearhead and would have Munaf Patel and possibly one more pacer for company in a match that is likely to be dominated by spinners. Off-spinner Ramesh Powar could be the other spinner in the XI besides Kumble.

All in all, the Indian team looks far stronger than Bangladesh, and Dravid, who also led the team in a forgettable World Cup, has already said that the home side's lack of experience in Test cricket could prove their handicap.

Experienced Bashar will be the key for Bangladesh's batting with vice-captain Mohammad Ashraful, Shahriar Nafees-subject to selection as he has been out of form lately-Javed Omer and wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud, the most experienced player in the team, lending support.

Bangladesh all-rounder Sakibul Hasan, an exciting left-handed batsman, could make his debut Friday.

The bowling department will rely heavily on pacers Mashrafe Mortaza and the spin attack will be led by left-armers Mohammed Rafique and Enamul Haque (junior) and off-spinner Rajin Saleh.

Teams:
India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh
Karthick, Zaheer Khan, Vikram Raj Vir Singh, Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh, Anil Kumble, Ramesh Powar and Rajesh Pawar

Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (captain), Mohammad Ashraful (vice captain), Javed Omer, Shahriar Nafees, Shakibul Hasan, Rajin Saleh, Tushar Imran, Khaled Mashud (wicket-keeper), Mohammed Rafique, Enamul Haque (junior), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel and Mehrab Hossain (junior)

Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Billy Doctrove
(West Indies)

TV umpire: Enamul Hoque Moni (Bangladesh)

Reserve umpire: Jahangir Alam (Bangladesh)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by akabir77
I found the following article in yahoo and look what they r saying...

Thursday May 17, 12:56 PM
....

Bangladesh have never won a Test match in their history ...

I have found something that I want to ad in my signature.

[Beamer]

The line up going into the first test is pretty much sealed. Lets see :
1Jo 2 SN 3 Hub-cap ( from an old creaky car that falls off from a little bit of bump on the road ! well well ) 4 Ash 5 Sakib 6 Rajin 7 Pilot 8 Rafiq 9 Masrafee 10 Enam 11 Shahadat.

All of them have one thing in common, particularly the batsmen, and that they haven't played a test match in over a year, minus Sakib offcourse, who will make his debut.

Jo -Have no expectation from him, little range in shots, shoddy in defense( popular myth says otherwise, vulnerable to ball leaving offside and leg side !).

Sn- Out of sorts, haven't been in action, yet going straight to a test match. Should have played both the one dayers to get some time under his belt. So, no expectation, just pure hope that he will bounce back.

Hab-cap - Lost his batting and not worthy of a test no.3. But, will get the benefit of doubt since he has produced there before. No expectation.

Ash- well..too much expectation.

Sakib- Worthy of a debut and I think he will make the transformation quite easily.

Rajin- Have zero playing time over the last few months. Mentally he is stronger than lot of other people and hopefully he will continue his test form from last year. But still, won't fault him if he is unable to do so, since he has seen little action. Not much expectation.

So, we have a very shaky batting line. People out of action and out of sorts are suddely thrown back into the mix. On top of that, the batting line-up is too defensive. Yes, it matters in tests. Aftab does himself no favor by never learning to play spin ball. Rahim might consider himself unlucky. He should have played as a pure batsman. He has been among action as well.

Only bhorosha is our bowlers. They have been playing and playing well. They will decide the outcome of this match ( win or losss ). Winning the toss is critical here. Whoever wins, will undoubtedly bat first . First innings total is crucially important for us. If we don't post a decent total, the match will be quickly over. We must post close to 400 in fisrt innings ( more the better ) to give us a fighting chance. Batting fourth is gonna get dificult for us on this pitch. First two sessions should give an indication of which way the game is going. Lets hope for the best..

[WarWolf]

Bangladesh have never won a Test match in their history.


What did he mean by this?

[SS]

Originally Posted by WarWolf
Bangladesh have never won a Test match in their history.


What did he mean by this?

He meant he doesn't know how to do research before publishing something in media.

[Dhakablues]

I think the worry will not be Indian bowlers but the usual Bangladesh batsmen not playing full to their ability. On the side, speculative offcourse is, how much Dav will influence the game plan during sessions against his not-so-distant future employer..Call me cynical...

[Sohel]

good one miraz bhai, as always...

i'm keeping my fingers tightly crossed. i think great individual performances will pleasantly surprise all of us Tiger fans, so let the real games begin... again... GO TIGERS