BCB Gearing Up

[Ehsan]

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Sports Reporter


The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is going to hold an exhibition match involving national cricketers on Tuesday to celebrate the Independence Day.
The 50-over-contest between BCB Red and BCB Green will be held at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium.

Former national captain Akram Khan will lead the Red while experienced all-rounder Khaled Mahmud will captain the Green.

Skipper Khaled Mashud, who decided to quit the captaincy after leading Bangladesh to a woeful campaign in the 2003 World Cup, will stand behind the wicket in the Akram-led Red team.

The game will mark the first appearance of the national cricketers who returned home on February 5 after five defeats in six games in South Africa.

But chief selector Aliul Islam indicated by not considering three national caps that it would not be a mere exhibition match.

Opener Al-Shahriar, Hannan Sarker and Ehsanul Haque have not been included in the list of 30. Mashrafee-bin Mortaza, who twisted his right ankle during the World Cup and was forced to return home early, was not also picked by the selectors.

"The failure of our openers mainly responsible for our disastrous campaign in the World Cup. We have picked some fresh and experienced openers for the practice match on the basis of their performance in the domestic cricket. But that does not necessarily mean the three players have been left out," said Aliul to the Daily Star last night.

He however said that Wednesday's game is aimed to find a probable combination for the coming tri-nation tournament and the two Tests against South Africa.

Dhaka will host a three-nation one-day tournament also involving India before the Test series in March.


Aliul also picked former national captain Faruque Ahmed (Green) and former national opener Athar Ali Khan (Red) to manage the sides.

"It will be a test case for them to deliver goods in different capacity," said the chief selector. The appointment of Faruque and Athar was made in a bid to find a replacement of ASM Faruque, he added.

TEAMS

BCB Green: Khaled Mahmud (captain), Mohammed Ashraful, Javed Omar, Rashedul Haq, Tushar Imran, Nazimuddin, Habibul Bashar, Alok Kapali, Sanwar Hossain, Mohammed Selim (wicketkeeper), Arafat Sunny, Taposh Baishya, Tarek Aziz Khan, Talha Jubair and Enamul Hoque.


BCB Red: Akram Khan (captain), Mehrab Hossain, Shahriar Hossain, Sajjad Ahmed Shipon, Mazharul Huq, Aftab Ahmed, Aminul Islam, Naimur Rahman, Anwar Hossain, Khaled Mashud (wicketkeeper), Manzarul Islam, Mushfiqur Rahman, Monjurul Islam, Anwar Hossain Monir and Mohammed Rafique.

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It seems to be a very good decission by BCB which I have never imagined. Letting these two teams to play in a single match will surely test their ability and how far they can use their experience and to see who are the best.

Here is my question being away from BD I didn't get to know that much about domestic matches and player until I found this Board. Do any one of you know something about these players and on of their best innings: Sajjad Ahmed Shipon, Aftab Ahmed, Anwar Hossain Monir, BCB , Rashedul Haq, Nazimuddin, Arafat Sunny and Tarek Aziz Khan.

If yes, would you be kind enough to put some of your time for us who don't know them?

[Edited on 25-3-2003 by ehsan]

[Tehsin]

Shipon - Good opener with decent exposure. Wastouted to be a potential player early on but haven;t had the platform (opportunity) to show if he can perform.
Aftab - Young opener from Chitagong and did well for Mohammedan (I think) this year. New kid, we need to watch him carefully and have him go through the ropes (A team, Dev team, etc)
Monir - good opening bowler. Played for the A team and is probably not as good as the Masri/Monju's.
Rashedul Huq Sumon - having a much quieter time then the last season. He was a nightmare for any team (specially Abahani) in the league last year or the year before. Solid middle order bat.
Nzim - Chittagong ? Decent performer, don't know much about him.
Arafat Sunny - Dev team ? Young spinner making his mark in the league, too early to tell.
Tareq Aziz Khan - Shocked Pakistan and came into national limelight in a practice match playing for Chittagog in the home series. Spent all last season in the injury list. Taking wickets in the club level but nothing too devastating. Maybe the injury took away some of his edge.

[fwullah]

As far as I know Sajjan Ahmed Shipon played in the WI A tour of Bangladesh. He also played for Bangladesh National team many times, but I think that was in the ICC trophies.

Anwar Hossain Monir's debut match for Bangladesh National Team was during recent Bangladesh tour of South Africa, where he gave away lots of runs, but in my judgment, he is actually a much better line and length bowler on debut, say comparing to Tapash Baisya or Hasibul Hussain. But that also means that he is not a wicket - taker. I have some additional points to make about him compared to what Tehsin said - he may be not as good potential, but he has the potential to bowl line and length like Monju does now. And for most pacers of Bangladesh, line and length is a BIG problem.

Rashedul Haque Sumon played for Bangladesh A team during 1997. Before that, I can't remember.