Second Specialist Spinner

[roaring tigerz]

Since Rafiq left the international scene Shakib has quite seamlessly transitioned into the number one spinner in the country. Razzak has been tried and then branded as a one day specialist and Mosharraf seems to be out of the radar following his ICL exodus. Enamul has played sporadically and he is the closest we have to a specialist spin bowling option. With the management clamoring for diversity in bowling options and team balance we have resorted to a more or less one specialist spinner in test matches. Would either Naeem or Riyad make it to the starting elevens in their club teams as specialist bowlers? I am highly doubtful.

Over the last couple of seasons a few others have emerged as possible contenders for a second spinner slot. Almost all of them, are left arm finger spinners and the selectors have been wary of bringing any of them on board. While two specialist spinners might be a defensive option against India, against England it's an absolute necessity. So, in order to make a clear eyed analysis, lets compare the first class statistics of the contenders Enamul, Razzak, Shuvo, Nabil and Sajib. I included Shakib and Rafique in the list to see how these contenders records stack up against our number one spinner both current and past. If we continue our ploy of playing 8 batsmen, Riyad and Naeem are in effect our second spinners. So, its only fair that we include them in the equation too. Who do you think deserves a shot?

Bowler	Matches	Wickets	Average	Strike Rate	Economy Rate	5 wicket hauls	10 wicket hauls
Mohammed Rafiq	62	237	28.01	68.7	2.44	12	2
Shakib Al Hasan	39	109	29.44	67.5	2.61	8	0
Enamul Haq	64	238	30.25	64.7	2.80	15	3
Abdur Razzak	44	144	30.11	68.5	2.63	5	1
Nabil Samad	50	182	25.89	64.1	2.42	11	2
Suhrwardi Shuvo	26	133	19.61	47.3	2.48	10	2
Saqlain Sajib	13	65	16.76	39.0	2.57	6	1
Mahmudullah Riyad	42	58	29.70	58.2	3.06	1	0
Naeem Islam	48	21	40.38	86.0	2.81	0	0

[nycpro96]

Saqlain and Shuvo stand out.

[wiseshah]

shuvo all the way. he should be included in the NZ tour

[M.H.Rubel]

Originally Posted by wiseshah
shuvo all the way. he should be included in the NZ tour

Yes Shuvo is playing good for long time.I wanted him in test against India.So definately i want Shuvo in NZ tour.

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[al-Sagar]

what happened to mosharraf rubel. he could have been the best.

i followed him and watched some games in the national league. i f given some chance to play regularly for 1-2 series he could have made the place his own.

for me naeem and riyadh are part timers, mainly batters and could be effective dependin on situation. we cannot rely on them.

for tests enamul now gets the nod and i think shuvo is not far away

[The_Yorker]

Saqlain and Shuvo are outstanding

[Gowza]

naeem and riyad should be played as batsmen who can part time spin in test cricket. shuvo and saqlain clearly standout, nabil has a good record for having played 50 matches. unfortunately we don't have much variation, i'd consider playing kapali because he bowls leg spin and can hit the ball well at times (and his record isn't so bad compared to a few on this list).

[shajib14]

We really need either Shuvo or Saqlain in the team, and play them in the first 11 if needed. Because Enams record against top teams is very very ordinary.

[Eshen]

I must say things are getting interesting. Enamul is no more the de facto second spinner in the Test side. Selectors got about 6 weeks, before the Test series against England, to make up their mind whether they want to continue with him or give someone new a chance.

At this point Suhrawardi seems to be the leading contender, though Saqlain may have an outside chance considering how he is rocking the NCL.

Our leading FC spinners at this point -

Player	Span	Mat	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
Enamul Haque jnr	2003-2009	64	2569.2	325	7201	238	7/95	12/200	30.25	2.80	64.7	9	3
Nabil Samad	2003-2010	52	2005.3	529	4891	189	8/61	13/116	25.87	2.43	63.6	11	2
Arafat Sunny	2003-2008	42	1403.1	330	3420	149	7/50	9/95	22.95	2.43	56.5	11	1
Elias Sunny	2004-2010	42	1303.3	311	3660	146	7/79	13/107	25.06	2.80	53.5	6	1
Abdur Razzak	2003-2010	44	1646.2	251	4337	144	7/11	10/62	30.11	2.48	68.5	4	1
Suhrawadi Shuvo	2005-2010	26	1048.4	270	2609	133	6/71	12/195	19.61	2.48	47.3	10	2
Alok Kapali	2002-2010	81	1406.3	174	4007	129	7/81	7/81	31.06	2.84	65.4	5	1
Mosharraf Hossain	2005-2010	36	1435.4	318	3604	128	9/105	12/147	28.15	2.51	67.2	5	1
Saqlain Sajib	2007-2010	14	508.4	112	1330	74	7/29	13/113	17.97	2.61	41.2	7	1

[Rubu]

first question is do we really need 2nd specialist spinner or use nadim and ryad 2part timer and eliminate that need

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[Gowza]

does anyone see kapali getting a spot because of his legspin? variation to the bowling attack plus has that batting which is no doubt stronger than any of the other spinning contenders. i think it's impossible to go past shuvo or saqlain, unless they want more variation in which they'd pick someone like kapali. they're already using a batsman/part time bowler as the 2nd spinner in riyad so can't count out someone like kapali getting a shot (although don't think he's been bowling this NCL much, but did well in the earlier t20 tournament with the ball).

[Eshen]

Using two part timers to eliminate the need for a 2nd specialist spinner?! I don't think that will be a smart idea at all, not in a Test match against England.

[Gowza]

Originally Posted by Eshen
Using two part timers to eliminate the need for a 2nd specialist spinner?! I don't think that will be a smart idea at all, not in a Test match against England.

agree, i doubt that would work in test cricket over the long haul, much better to invest in specialist spinners and let riyad/naeem focus on batting in the longer format imo. if you want to keep the batting depth i'd recommend shuvo or kapali as the 2nd spinner, kapali mainly due to being a leggy, shuvo is probably the better option though because he's more of a genuine bowler and he can bat a bit.

[Eshen]

Gowza, I don't think Kapali is in consideration for his bowling anymore. Though at the beginning of his career he showed potential as a bowler, in recent years he has concentrated more on his batting, bowling only as a part timer.

[Gowza]

Originally Posted by Eshen
Gowza, I don't think Kapali is in consideration for his bowling anymore. Though at the beginning of his career he showed potential as a bowler, in recent years he has concentrated more on his batting, bowling only as a part timer.

yeah this would be logical thinking since he doesn't bowl so much these days (other than in t20 cricket), but BD selectors don't mind pulling some random selections, it's the type of thing they could do (but then they could do anything so it's not saying much). but really atm BD are short on leg spinners and they want a long batting line-up so i could see kapali being in the minds as a possible spinner option. btw it's not just BD selectors who have strange expectations, the aussie selectors and coaches and captain's still hope cameron white can become a good international allrounder.

[roaring tigerz]

It would be an absolute atrocity if we don't plan on crowding the team with spinners against England. Lets face it, that's our best and only realistic chance of beating them. Over the years the team has gotten considerably better at dealing with subcontinental conditions and they have trounced us without much trouble in previous visits. But I believe we have a more attacking bowling attack now. The prescription would be simple make dustbowls which takes sharp turn and bounce from third day onwards and have at least two specialist spinners in the team.

The inclusion of both Riyad and Naeem cannot negate the need for a second specialist spinner. On present form I believe Shuvo and Sajib are the leading candidates...by a country mile. At this juncture I would go with Sajib as his numbers are phenomenal. But I must confess, I haven't seen either of them bowl, so we will just have to wait and see and then evaluate.

[Gowza]

currently if shakib gets injured BD are screwed in the spin department because the selectors/management haven't bothered to groom any other spinners for the longer format. you could say they done something with enam, but really they haven't done much, he's in and out of the sqaud and rarely in the team so it's not like he's had any decent development. i think the selectors are scared of changing the team dynamic, they should be thinking positive instead of negative.

[Umar]

Originally Posted by Gowza
currently if shakib gets injured BD are screwed in the spin department because the selectors/management haven't bothered to groom any other spinners for the longer format. you could say they done something with enam, but really they haven't done much, he's in and out of the sqaud and rarely in the team so it's not like he's had any decent development. i think the selectors are scared of changing the team dynamic, they should be thinking positive instead of negative.

You are Right. maybe the selectors are looking forward to a Shakib like allrounder in MAHMUDUL HASAN, Shabbir Rahman, or Noor Hussain? Given that Siddon likes young players who performs we will never know!

Shuvo deserves a place in the team right now! Maybe by replacing Abdur Razzak. And If it doesnt happen anytime soon im afraid it will be taken by SHAKER AHMED.

I believe Alok will get in the team soon in place of Ashraful unless he does something beyond imagination in nz

[samlove01]

I GUess This is the problem with Bangladesh fans who evers perfrom in 1 or 2 matches or who top in the ncl n any other league u prefer to drag in to the internation cricket..

common guys they r stil young blood need to still learn a lot and have to be more consistance

[Gowza]

Originally Posted by samlove01
I GUess This is the problem with Bangladesh fans who evers perfrom in 1 or 2 matches or who top in the ncl n any other league u prefer to drag in to the internation cricket..

common guys they r stil young blood need to still learn a lot and have to be more consistance

shuvo has been performing for 5 years, that's a decent amount of time, saqlain i'm a bit iffy about but he's been around 3 years so he's not a complete rookie and he is just running through sides atm which is hard to ignore. if you don't want to go for either of those i'd just pick alok to have variation and extra batting depth.

[wiseshah]

shuvo is more like bowling allrounder

under 19 spinner--mahmudul, sabbir, noor hossain, saker---- good option, not tested yet.

another guy--Murad khan (khulna)-- he also get wkt .

2 more spinner: arafat sunny and nasir hossain

[Gowza]

Originally Posted by wiseshah
shuvo is more like bowling allrounder

under 19 spinner--mahmudul, sabbir, noor hossain, saker---- good option, not tested yet.

another guy--Murad khan (khulna)-- he also get wkt .

2 more spinner: arafat sunny and nasir hossain

i'd say shuvo's batting is a bonus, his records suggest he's the quality of a genuine specialist spinner but he also averages mid 20s with the bat. his role model is vettori, without knowing vettori's early stats i'd say he's pretty close to a young vettori (whos batting wasn't as good as it is today) so hopefully he can develop into something similar to current vettori.

[beshideshi]

I am really surprised how Shuvo is still not around the national team. He should be in the 20men bunch at least. He has been performing well to decent for a long time now.

[_Rafi_]

We want a real turner of ball who can take advantage of 3rd or 4th innings. Shakib mostly relies on his variation rather than turning the ball. If Shuvo can turn the ball better than Enamul then he should be in the team against England. Our U19 spinners are also decent turner, if they are groomed properly they will be good asset specially two leggies and the offie Skiper.

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[jisaan]

Shuvo lost it over the last few months. His bowling has been mediocre of late.
Saqlain looks to be the best bet at the moment. He is in tremendous form. But his batting remains a major worry.
Rubel is no where in the horiizon. Post-ICL period has thrown him out of the scene.
But enamul has done nothing wrong. He is easily the 2nd best spinner at the moment.
Others have to do Extra-Ordinary things to supersede him.