Idea of Mashrafe as a Pinch Hitter at #3 in ODIs?

[Flipper]

Originally posted by TheWatcher

So who will be our onedown batsman? Here I like Sujon's idea of using Mashrafe as a pinch hitter. India had success using Pathan in this position in the first ODI against Pakistan, since Mashrafe bats pretty straight, he may also produce similar results for us from this position once a while.

Few more points to consider:

- He won us the boxing day game against India. (His innings was the difference)
- he was fun to watch in the very next match.
- Bangladesh posted a somewhat respectable score against England last year in the first match of NetWest solely on Aftab and Mash's shoulder.
- He also has a First Class 100.
- He was the one to make sure we post 300.

I think this is the series we try him for the next 3 matches to see if he clicks. I started to believe that he may play some match winning innings at #3 as a pinch hitter!

Edited on, March 19, 2006, 2:31 AM GMT, by Flipper.

[esteban_loaiza]

oti lobhe tati noshto hoyer sombhabona.....

[CricketWriter]

I agree Mashrafe Mortaza is a very talented cricketer and deserves consideration to move to No 3

[Hasib]

I would move him up a bit but not that far up atm...maybe 5 or 6...in the 4th game how ever if the series is sealed I would say go for it.

[Hegar]

If the team gets off to a good start it is an option otherwise I wouldn't have Mashrafe at number three. Anyway Aftab a an aggressive batsman at number 3.

[cricket_pagol]

Let's not put too much pressure on mashrefee. I think lower down the order he will be more useful.

[yaseer]

Originally posted by Flipper

I think this is the series we try him for the next 3 matches to see if he clicks. I started to believe that he may play some match winning innings at #3 as a pinch hitter!

Ya Flipper......I agree to this point......this series is the perfect opportunity.......in this series we must try him in the top order....and give him much more chance to develop himself as an all-rounder...some 50!s in the series can really boost his confidence and we can have a serious all-rounder in our side.

Just see how indians developed Irfan Pathan as an all-rounder......by giving more responsibilities in the top order....and this boost his confidence.

I have not forget how tough time Masri had in England against faster bowlers.....i also know his weakness against short pitch deliveries......but i also seriously beleive Masri has the potential of becoming a genuine all-rounder if the team backs him.

So, i am with the idea of promoting Masri in the top order against kenya in the last 3 matches and see how he goes. Because we do not get much chances in international cricket to experiement and here is a perfect opportunity.

All i want to see....Masri as a genuine all-rounder of international crieket....and i seriously beleive if he learn how to play the short deliveries......he has all the potentials.

[yaseer]

I do not agree with the word "pinch hitter" to be associated with Masri. I want to see him as a genuine all-rounder who balls and also bats at the top-order (not necessarily @ 3) aggressively.

Masri has much more potential in batting than making 30 off 15 balls......he plays on straight bat.....if he works hard with his technique against short ball and the team backs him....i belaive he can bat consistently at no. 3 to no. 7

[BanglaCool]

The top order is there to score runs. Don't break their harmony and their ability by promoting a tail ender to #3.

[KaaL-PurusH]

Originally posted by esteban_loaiza
oti lobhe tati noshto hoyer sombhabona.....

Xactly...We shouldn't do XPeriment anymore. I think we got a good combination now so we should keep this combination (if possible, then change JO)) till WC. dats da way, we will realize dat how deep is our strength and we can go for any risk in any circumstances.

but i wanna say 1 thing, if Mash wiil get guidance from any batting coach he will b a very all-rounder like Pathan or better than him.

so i think some1 should work with him to improve his batting skill.

[Miraz]

We are dreaming too much. I think you have not forgotten the failure of Mashrafee as a batsman in fast bouncy wicket of Australia, SA, NZ and England. No. 3 is the most important position of our ODI team. Mahsrafe is not fit there. He has plenty of batting ability and stroke. He is an asset in the slog overs. So we should reserve him for the slog. If we reach the slog overs 2 to 3 down we should bring him in to play big shots. So he should not have any fixed batting position in the bottom but should be flexible.

He is not a top order with good solid technique but he is quite capable at the end.

[rafiq]

This is an absurd idea! Why not have him open with Rafique?

[Ahmed_B]

Sure!!
Ei hash jehetu golden egg diche.. then we should probably slaughter it. We may get a lot of golden eggs together in its stomach!

Remember the myth of the greedy farmer?

[Spitfire_x86]

Not a good idea. He was reduced to the level of Courtney Walsh in the England tour.

[tanvir_nus]

Mashrafee can hit and he can hit the ball hard. If there was a player who can compete with him it is probably aftab or rafique. I am a fan of both. So it is hard to compare, but Mashrafee should be used only if the situation demands it. If there is licence to hit then I say promote him, if there is no need then nvm.

[Mahmood]

There can not be such hard coded plan to play him first down. He is good to increase the run rate when needed. So, we will use him when we need him, like we did in the last game.

If there is a situation, we need a pinch hitter to open (Example, Rafiq's 77 against Kenya), we may even open with Mash. It all depends on how that match is and what it requires.

[CricTiger]

Originally posted by Mahmood

If there is a situation, we need a pinch hitter to open (Example, Rafiq's 77 against Kenya), we may even open with Mash. It all depends on how that match is and what it requires.

Well said .
একেবারে আমার মনের কথাই বলেছেন

[Wrath]

Pinch hitter? why do we need a pinch hitter so we lose an extra wicket? Mortaza is good where he is, he could bat ahead of Pilot but not any higher in the lineup, he's best for slog overs.
And its not like our batsmen like Ashraful,Aftab and Bashar play slow, they're always trying to get out by going for big shots early.
and Golla or Belim whatevr you call him, there's no way we can get rid of him, someone needs to occupy the crease or atleast show some effort to do so every time we play. He is the only one who tries to do that. Until our hitters are consistent he has to stay.
Bangla batting lineup is good they just have to perform, and thats the important part, talent doesnt count for **** if you dont have the brains and balls to use it!

[zakirc]

It is ideas like this that makes our selectors so stupid ...

Lets hope none of the selectors and team officials catch onto this idea.

[Flipper]

So some people found this thread to increase their post number with their one liner by calling this thread "stupid". What's more stupid than that?

Did anyone think Pathan was going to be a success at 3 knowing he never even had a 50 in his first class career? If India didn't try these sort of things, they would never have emerged as a One Day power again. They are looking at WC 07, and I think that's what has been warranted.

Like I said in the first post, this is the series we try him at #3 to see if he clicks, to see what it brings for us, to see if we could post scores that we usually see in World cricket now. But, then again, it's hard for some of us to look beyond, as we don't like changes, we are really happy with Javed Omar.

If you run with the pack you get no further than the pack.



ps: I also don't understand how it kills the Duck? please elaborate!

[Jughead]

i think we are getting too far ahead of ourselves

let him bat where he is producing runs for us now.
It will be a suicidal attempt to move him up the order, those who wnt him promoted to no. 3 position should try to recall aus/eng tour where he had no clue whatsoever.

[Dhakablues]

Well Mashrafee has always batted well when he was young. Then more known as Kowshik, he scored 18 ball 61 during U17/19 tournament and more blasting innings. Sashtri once thought he can become a very good allrounder after the India defeat.

I dont think Mashrafee should be promoted to #3 yet but he should be promoted with Rafique to unsettle opposition attack with left-right blasting combination.

[HereWeGo]

It is ok to do that against kenyan attack but definately not a good idea when playing against test nations cuz

1) He seriously cannot play short pitched balls. and once opposition figures that out he will not get any other deliveried bowled at him for sure.

2)he is our major fast bowler.. Don wanna put extra stress on him.....

neways still may be a worth experimenting.....

[zakirc]

Originally posted by Dhakablues
I dont think Mashrafee should be promoted to #3 yet but he should be promoted with Rafique to unsettle opposition attack with left-right blasting combination.

This is more like it. Use him to unsettle opposition bowling only when required.

He is an awesome bowler of unparallel (in Bangladesh) quality so lets not have him think about batting too.

[fishyguy]

This is the worst idea I've ever heard in my life.