Not bad, not too bad at all...

[al Furqaan]

heading into the final day's play, i'd have to say the "progress" of the team overall has been satisfactory. of course it remains to be seen what kind of intensity we come out with at Mirpur in a few days, but so far so good.

we got off to a good start, as often we do, by bundling the Indians out on a fairly bowling wicket for 243. if it weren't for the master being dropped twice, it would have been a sub 200 total.

of course we fumbled, as usual, in our reply. but then we did fight back. no we didn't deliver any knock out punches, but thats hard to do on what is now a flat track against the preeminent batting lineup in the universe. but mushy and riyad fought and put a triple digit stand (whose solidity was a treat to watch). and then the bowlers got right back into it after being on the backfoot.

don't let anyone fool you, but 413-8 is a scorecard any other Test side would take against India on a batting wicket in the first innings. and thats basically what these Chittagong pitches play like: in reverse. So imagine bowling India out for 450 on a batting track, and then rolling them for 243 in the 2nd innings when the pitch deteriorates. thats solid test bowling, and thats exactly what we've gotten here.

the gem of the innings, IMO, were two fold. first Rubel traps Tendy plumb with just a hint of reverse swing on a pacy delivery which also moved in off the seam. I think Waqar younis would be envious. The he nearly blew yuvraj "sixer king" singh's head off with a nasty, brutish, and short delivery at the humble speed of 140.0 km/h. on such a placid track, that was a gem of a spell for a youngster, don't let the numbers fool you.

our reply is less than perfect, but how many times have we seen ourselves in a match (and yes, chasing 415 on a flat track should no longer daunt us - thank you, Jamie!) only to stumble embarassingly to 55-5 or something.

67-2? i'll take it. we're Bangladesh remember. Not so long ago, teams expected us to be 67 all out under zero pressure.

with our two weakest batsmen out (SN clearly is not ready, and i admit i vouched for him), a flat track ahead of us. the grit of rock, riyad, and rahim, added to the valor of shakib, and the Eid potential of Ash, means that history could be made.

and even if we lose, we should at least put up 350, start wonder the "what ifs", but rest assured. a quick gander at ICF will tell you that we weren't supposed to make it this far.

assuredly, somewhere in chittagong, there are at least eleven Indians who will (despite what their idiotic captain might say at the post-match press briefing tomorrow) toss and turn sleeplessly in their hotel beds - fearful of the effigies which might be burning at home tomorrow, if they should lose this one.

[Beamer]

I like the reverse scenario you mention about 413 vs 243. Good point there.

Good post. Not bad at all..

[Shobhon]

On brighter side, we are better than Pakistan whose Test games end in 3 days

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by Beamer
I like the reverse scenario you mention about 413 vs 243. Good point there.

Good post. Not bad at all..

thats the way the CTG pitch plays...thought we'd stroll over NZ but it didn't happen due to reverse nature of the pitch. we started off, scoring a run per over in the first session, scored 180 in 90 overs in day one...and NZ still cruised to a 3 wicket win chasing 300+ in the 4th (but acted like a 1st) innings.

[googo]

The only progress I've seen in 10+ years of them playing international cricket is they are not losing by an innings now. Not much of a progress,..

[Surfer]

Good post there al Furqaan. Though I wish Bangladesh had improved faster, this is not bad at all. I am particularly impressed with the bowling. The line and length your bowlers bowled this series is something I had not seen from them in some time. There were far too less hit-me deliveries. There was an unforeseen confidence in the bowlers. They were asking the right questions and were producing gems from time to time forcing the batsman to pay attention to the details.

The batting however, remains ordinary. Most of your batsmen don't look in great touch even when they are scoring. Don't get me wrong, runs scored and runs scored, but I fail to see the same confidence from the batsmen that your bowlers show. There is still something flashy about the way your batsmen bat. Something that tells the bowler that there could be a wicket round the corner. A good batsman plays even a defense in a way that would demoralize a bowler. That's what is lacking in your batsmen still.

But what I am most impressed with and what has looked absolute world class is the captaincy. Shakib knows everything there is to know about captaincy. The bowling changes and the field placings have been impeccable. The way he was putting pressure on the Indian batsmen in the first innings was remarkable. He can coach the likes of Yousuf for a few years.

I hope it gets better from here. You guys have a brilliant captain for the first time. Good leadership can do wonders even for any team.

[WarWolf]

I see some trolls here too if you know what I mean. No offense to Surfer.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by Surfer
Good post there al Furqaan. Though I wish Bangladesh had improved faster, this is not bad at all. I am particularly impressed with the bowling. The line and length your bowlers bowled this series is something I had not seen from them in some time. There were far too less hit-me deliveries. There was an unforeseen confidence in the bowlers. They were asking the right questions and were producing gems from time to time forcing the batsman to pay attention to the details.

The batting however, remains ordinary. Most of your batsmen don't look in great touch even when they are scoring. Don't get me wrong, runs scored and runs scored, but I fail to see the same confidence from the batsmen that your bowlers show. There is still something flashy about the way your batsmen bat. Something that tells the bowler that there could be a wicket round the corner. A good batsman plays even a defense in a way that would demoralize a bowler. That's what is lacking in your batsmen still.

But what I am most impressed with and what has looked absolute world class is the captaincy. Shakib knows everything there is to know about captaincy. The bowling changes and the field placings have been impeccable. The way he was putting pressure on the Indian batsmen in the first innings was remarkable. He can coach the likes of Yousuf for a few years.

I hope it gets better from here. You guys have a brilliant captain for the first time. Good leadership can do wonders even for any team.

good post youself.

the bowling has been pretty good, on both a helpful track and a flat one. batting remains the weak point, but hopefully the top order will get things right this time around. i definitely think we can win, but we will have to bat at the top of our game for that to occur, so instead i'll be satisfied if disaappointed a bit as long as we get a total in the neighborhood of 350.

[amar11432]

Originally Posted by googo
The only progress I've seen in 10+ years of them playing international cricket is they are not losing by an innings now. Not much of a progress,..

Retarded comment, plz reread your OWN comments and this time try to comprehend what you just said.

[Nafi]

Originally Posted by al Furqaan
.
assuredly, somewhere in chittagong, there are at least eleven Indians who will toss and turn sleeplessly in their hotel beds - fearful of the effigies which might be burning at home tomorrow, if they should lose this one.

POST OF THE DECADE!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS: the last emoticon is an indian

[billah]

Originally Posted by googo
The only progress I've seen in 10+ years of them playing international cricket is they are not losing by an innings now. Not much of a progress,..

Far better than India's record. It took them half a century just to gain any kind of credibility in performance. That is just incredibly inept. Goes hand-in-hand with India's lethargic economic progress during the same period. Bangladesh is on a much faster track in all fronts.

[Purbasha T]

Originally Posted by WarWolf
I see some trolls here too if you know what I mean. No offense to Surfer.

you mean the PaikhanaJao miah?

[Ashfaq]

Such "Not too bads" are not enough these days. A "Real good" is what we need. Truth be told we have a LOT of space for improvement and I'll await the day when we learn to learn.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Originally Posted by Siraji
Such "Not too bads" are not enough these days. A "Real good" is what we need. Truth be told we have a LOT of space for improvement and I'll await the day when we learn to learn.

We must win a Test soon. I'm thinking England might be the best candidate for being at the receiving end.

[BANFAN]

Originally Posted by googo
The only progress I've seen in 10+ years of them playing international cricket is they are not losing by an innings now. Not much of a progress,..

10 years is good if we compare with India achieving this in more than 25 years

Anyway, AF, I agree, It's not bad at all.

[capslock]

Originally Posted by Surfer
Good post there al Furqaan. Though I wish Bangladesh had improved faster, this is not bad at all. I am particularly impressed with the bowling. The line and length your bowlers bowled this series is something I had not seen from them in some time. There were far too less hit-me deliveries. There was an unforeseen confidence in the bowlers. They were asking the right questions and were producing gems from time to time forcing the batsman to pay attention to the details.

The batting however, remains ordinary. Most of your batsmen don't look in great touch even when they are scoring. Don't get me wrong, runs scored and runs scored, but I fail to see the same confidence from the batsmen that your bowlers show. There is still something flashy about the way your batsmen bat. Something that tells the bowler that there could be a wicket round the corner. A good batsman plays even a defense in a way that would demoralize a bowler. That's what is lacking in your batsmen still.

But what I am most impressed with and what has looked absolute world class is the captaincy. Shakib knows everything there is to know about captaincy. The bowling changes and the field placings have been impeccable. The way he was putting pressure on the Indian batsmen in the first innings was remarkable. He can coach the likes of Yousuf for a few years.

I hope it gets better from here. You guys have a brilliant captain for the first time. Good leadership can do wonders even for any team.

Good point about the batting but I think it's unfair to judge our batting by Nafees and Imrul, which is what I think you are doing. :-)

[sufism]

Rational thread.

[Tigers_eye]

Indian team allout in 70 overs and under 250? That also against an ordinary bowling attack? Some averages must have been compromised. I can't believe this happened on a placid wicket as well.

[tigerpain]

He has good point ... I admit , I do however disagree with him interms of improvment only on balling and captaincy... we do have improved on our batting far better than before. But one thing it strik in mind is the fact ..most of our player is ave.23 years old...so there is rush of blood along with immature judgement of ball in other word which not one to play is the biggest concern with our batsmen Insaallah we will over come that issue soon and be Top ONE!!!

Originally Posted by Surfer
Good post there al Furqaan. Though I wish Bangladesh had improved faster, this is not bad at all. I am particularly impressed with the bowling. The line and length your bowlers bowled this series is something I had not seen from them in some time. There were far too less hit-me deliveries. There was an unforeseen confidence in the bowlers. They were asking the right questions and were producing gems from time to time forcing the batsman to pay attention to the details.

The batting however, remains ordinary. Most of your batsmen don't look in great touch even when they are scoring. Don't get me wrong, runs scored and runs scored, but I fail to see the same confidence from the batsmen that your bowlers show. There is still something flashy about the way your batsmen bat. Something that tells the bowler that there could be a wicket round the corner. A good batsman plays even a defense in a way that would demoralize a bowler. That's what is lacking in your batsmen still.

But what I am most impressed with and what has looked absolute world class is the captaincy. Shakib knows everything there is to know about captaincy. The bowling changes and the field placings have been impeccable. The way he was putting pressure on the Indian batsmen in the first innings was remarkable. He can coach the likes of Yousuf for a few years.

I hope it gets better from here. You guys have a brilliant captain for the first time. Good leadership can do wonders even for any team.

[cricket_pagol]

I think we all agree that our bowling has been really good in this test match and captaincy brilliant. During the first innings, our batsman were below par... especially the top order. Mushy and Riyad batted really well and made use of the good batting condition, whereas by the time Shakib and Rock, could not preserve their wicket for long.

As for result of match, i would be disappointed if we cannot secure a draw from this position. I would be quite happy if we can manage a draw, and be ecstatic if we can miraculously win this!!!

[arsenalsri]

BD batting can be divided into 4 categories at the moment - Poor technique, irresponsible and lack of experience and Ashraful.
Shariar Nafeez falls into category one and 2. He has a poor technique and is also irresponsible. He needs to understand his limitation and play within it. Tamim, Mushfiqur, and Riyaz fall into category 3 and 2 in that order. Their lack of experience causes them to play some irresponsible shots at time. They have got the technique and the talent
Ashraful is the big enigma. He has the talent, experience but depending on which side of the bed he wakes up can play shots between the sublime and ridiculous. If Bangladesh learn to use Ashraful in something like the Rahul Dravid of yesteryear, an anchor role and the rest of the batsmen can play around him - use his experience, Bangladesh can consistently post 400+. If they do that the bowling attack will look even better than what it is now because they can be more attacking with runs on the board.

[wiseshah]

I think surfer made good point here
nice article ffurqan

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[Anher]

Well said AL and surfer brother.

[tkandi4]

Dear surfer,

I enjoy your comments. As Bangladeshi let me thank you for your posting.

[nycpro96]

Originally Posted by Surfer
Good post there al Furqaan. Though I wish Bangladesh had improved faster, this is not bad at all. I am particularly impressed with the bowling. The line and length your bowlers bowled this series is something I had not seen from them in some time. There were far too less hit-me deliveries. There was an unforeseen confidence in the bowlers. They were asking the right questions and were producing gems from time to time forcing the batsman to pay attention to the details.

The batting however, remains ordinary. Most of your batsmen don't look in great touch even when they are scoring. Don't get me wrong, runs scored and runs scored, but I fail to see the same confidence from the batsmen that your bowlers show. There is still something flashy about the way your batsmen bat. Something that tells the bowler that there could be a wicket round the corner. A good batsman plays even a defense in a way that would demoralize a bowler. That's what is lacking in your batsmen still.

But what I am most impressed with and what has looked absolute world class is the captaincy. Shakib knows everything there is to know about captaincy. The bowling changes and the field placings have been impeccable. The way he was putting pressure on the Indian batsmen in the first innings was remarkable. He can coach the likes of Yousuf for a few years.

I hope it gets better from here. You guys have a brilliant captain for the first time. Good leadership can do wonders even for any team.

Very nicely said. Thanks for the support. And weather permitting, one of the sides will definitely win this test match tomorrow. Hope Day 5 gives us all something to remember.