SL Tour: A good opportunity to have a better Test Series (at the expense of ODIs)?

[Ahmed_B]

This SriLanka tour ahead of the BD team is something out of the regular for the Team. And that is because of the ODI series being played ahead of the Test Series.

The BD team has already earned a reputation of wasting some time to 'take off' at the beginning of any Tour/Series. They struggle to find form and spirit early in any Series and so they usually show their worst at the beginning of any Series and show their best at the end.

For this reason.... we just might get a better Test Series from the team this time, even though that might be at the expense of the ODI success we are getting used to these days. Even so, I would really like to see the team do well in this Test series.... because we desperately need to put up some good performance in Tests. It has already been long since we got our best Test Achievement, the Draw against WI (personally, I value that even more than the Series Win over the weak ZMs).

Best of luck to the Team!

Edited on, August 30, 2005, 1:45 PM GMT, by Ahmed_B.
Reason: Edited title for clarification

[cricman]

I think we'll have a good Test and ODI Series vs Sri Lanka.

I Truly believe that this Tour will be the Calling out Party to the rest of the cricket world that Bangladesh Cricket has arrived and is here to Stay.

I think In the Test Series our success will come down to these Factors

1) Ashraful's success -54 Avg vs Sri Lanka in tests his higest Average vs any team Besides India(110 avg)

2) Dav Whatmore - His experience's in Sri Lanka is very critical for team Success.

3)80% of our bowlers have never played in a Test vs Sri Lanka.Rajib,Rafique,Enamul jr and Mashrafe.

[Xavier]

Originally posted by Ahmed_B
It has already been long since we got our best Test Achievement, the Draw against WI (personally, I value that even more than the Series Win over the weak ZMs).

Wasn't the narrow defeat in last test of Bangladesh' september 2003 tour in Pakistan the best performance for Bangladesh in test cricket?
Inzaman saved Pakistan from what looked to be a secure defeat as they were 205/8 chasing 261... and Inzaman scored 138!

I hope Bangladesh will keep on improving but at this time Sri Lanka don't look as an easy opponent to me: theay have just won the tri-series to India and West Indies and, though they are not as strong in test cricket as they are in the ODI, they have many key players in a very good form:
Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Vaas are having a great time, Malinga seems quite threatening and Murali is back on top.
So I guess they will be well aware to avoid unexpected defeats to Bangladesh. But, maybe, having close contest games would be good enough to strenghten the reputation of Bangladesh as a raising force in test cricket.

For those who may be interested in it... these are the probable elevens (IMHO!) for tests between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and how I evaluate the players on a rating from 1 to 10:

Sri Lanka
1*Atapattu ('70) 8
2 Jayasuriya ('69) 8.5
3+Sangakkara ('77) 8
4 Samarawera ('76) 7.5
5 Jayawardene 8
6 Gunawardene ('77) 7
7 Vaas ('74) 8.5
8 Murali ('72) 9
9 Zoysa ('78) 7.5
10 Maharoof ('74) 7.5
11 Malinga ('83) 8
Team total:87.5

Bangladesh
1 Omar ('76) 7.5
2 Tushar Imram ('83) 7
3 Asharaful ('84) 8
4*Bashar ('72) 7.5
5 Aftab ('85) 7.5
6 Rana ('84) 7
7+Mashud ('76) 7.5
8 Rafique ('70) 7.5
9 Mashrafee ('83) 8
10 Syed Rasel ('84) 7
11 Enamul ('86) 7
Team total:81.5

Don't take my valutations seriously, it's just a game I've had to satisfy my "cricket addiction"!
(and I also did that for all ten test teams!)

[mwrkhan]

I am very nervous about the upcoming test series against SL. A repeat of the England tour is a distinct possibility. It may be too much for our batsmen to cope with Vaas and Malinga before Muralitharan comes into play. I expect a better performance from our bowlers. Anyway, fingers crossed, best of luck to the BD team.

[Zobair]

yes I have similar premonitions!

But I am hoping Whatmore's knowledge of local conditions, pitches and the SL players will help take some of the sting out of Vaas, and Murali! I expect Malinga to be a handful.

But lets hope for the best.

Originally posted by mwrkhan
I am very nervous about the upcoming test series against SL. A repeat of the England tour is a distinct possibility. It may be too much for our batsmen to cope with Vaas and Malinga before Muralitharan comes into play. I expect a better performance from our bowlers. Anyway, fingers crossed, best of luck to the BD team.

Edited on, August 10, 2005, 10:51 PM GMT, by Zobair.

[zia]

SL is a tough opponent no matter how weak they have become from their previous level. Look how did they perform against WI and IND recently. We have few positives in our favor.
1. I am very hopful about our youngsters after how BD-A has performed recently in England.
2. The win over AUS has given us some confidence.
3. DW's experience in SL is a positive factor.

I have seen more tenacity in our A teams performance this time. Looks like they are getting used to long batting.

I am excited. Let hope for the best. Go TIGERS Go.

[GuruTM]

I am hopeful that we will definitely give srilanka a good run for their money in the upcoming series.

[ejaj_a]

I expect bangladesh to show much better and competitive perfomance then their previuos SL tour. They are now more experience and had just finished playing against fiersome fast bowling team in the world. I wud rate england bowling line up is the best at the moment (even better then Aussie). So by playing in english condition agaisnt excellent seam, swing and fast bowlers of england, BD shudnt be much worry abt SL pace bowlers. However, It is going to be interesting to see how they manage to play against variuos SL spinners. SL spinners are world class in their home ground and all the visiting team find it hard to play them. But as PPL always said that subcontinet players are better in playing spin then pace, from that point I am optimistic BD will show up very good performance in up coming tour. Good luck to tiger and all the best!

Edited on, August 11, 2005, 9:59 AM GMT, by ejaj_a.

[sleeping_giant]

Originally posted by Ahmed_B
.....................Best of luck to the Team!

The Target of Bangladesh Should be aginst SL:
01. At Least two 100 Runs in two ODIs among three ODIs, and we will win one.
02. At least two bawlers, bawl opposition and got 4 wickets each in two ODIs among three, and we will win one.
03. At least 3 Run Out in two ODIs, and we will win one.
04. No drop catches in two ODIs, and we will win one.
05. Atleast 5 down by 60 Runs (SL) in two ODIs among 3 ODI, and we will win one.
06. At least 2 down in first 10 runs (SL) in two ODIs, and we will win one.
07. Atleast two 50 Run a ball, and 50 of 30 balls, or 100 runs a ball (like aginst AUS) by Ashraful in Two ODIs, we will win one.
08. Atleast 40 Runs by Rafiq as opener and in two ODIs, we will win one.
09. Atleast 3 Stamps by Mashud in two ODIs, we will win onw.
10. Atleast 30 Runs saving By Bangladeshi fielders in two ODIs among 3 ODIs, we will win one.

In TEST the target should be:
01. Another Century, and may be double century by Ashraful.
02. Not loosing game within 3/4 days.
03. Lossing game on 5th days.
04. DRAW.

We welcome a strong fight from Bangla Boys! Agrrasive Captaincy, and attacking field setup is required from Bashar! and 100% Full Efforts from each player is required!



Edited on, August 11, 2005, 11:11 AM GMT, by sleeping_giant.

[Ahmed_B]

Originally posted by Xavier
Wasn't the narrow defeat in last test of Bangladesh' september 2003 tour in Pakistan the best performance for Bangladesh in test cricket?

Well.. IMO, there is a distinct difference between BD's performance in Multan in 2003 and the one in WI in 2004.

Multan was a close match... but BD scored only 261 & 154 in 1st and 2nd innings with Bashar's 72 being the highest in both innings for BD. Not a single other batsman scored even a 50 for BD. Pakistan scored only 175 in 1st innings and then 262-9 in 2nd. Both teams actually collapsed in batting.


Whereas in WI'2004 BD scored 416 in 1st innings and then got WI all-out for 352... taking a good lead. And then again BD scored 271 in 2nd innings and left only half a day play for WI in the 5th day. Bashar, Rafiq & Pilot Scored 100's and Ash(81) & Rajin got 50's as well.

Resultwaise... Multan might have been closer... but St. Lucia match was much higher in terms of solid performance by the whole team including the Batsmen. As I feel, BD could attain to the real Test Match Spirit in the WI more than Multan. If Bd needs to do well in Tests... they must learn to sustain long innings till the 5th day.. rather like the WI match I suppose. Situations like Multan are rather less usual in Tests.

Edited on, August 11, 2005, 3:31 PM GMT, by Ahmed_B.

[istiak]

We really have very bad record against SL

For the information:

Asian Test Championship, 2001-02, 2nd Match
September 2001
Result: Sri Lanka won by an innings and 137 runs

In this test match both Attapattu and Jayaberdene were retaired after scoring 201 and 150. That was the total disgrace for BD team.

Bangladesh in Sri Lanka, 2002, 1st Test
July 2002
Result: Sri Lanka won by an innings and 196 runs

Bangladesh in Sri Lanka, 2002, 2nd Test
July 2002
Result: Sri Lanka won by 288 runs


I hope this time we will have some thing to enjoy!

Edited on, August 11, 2005, 4:08 PM GMT, by istiak.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Originally posted by sleeping_giant
The Target of Bangladesh Should be aginst SL:
01. At Least two 100 Runs in two ODIs among three ODIs, and we will win one.
02. At least two bawlers, bawl opposition and got 4 wickets each in two ODIs among three, and we will win one.
03. At least 3 Run Out in two ODIs, and we will win one.
04. No drop catches in two ODIs, and we will win one.
05. Atleast 5 down by 60 Runs (SL) in two ODIs among 3 ODI, and we will win one.
06. At least 2 down in first 10 runs (SL) in two ODIs, and we will win one.
07. Atleast two 50 Run a ball, and 50 of 30 balls, or 100 runs a ball (like aginst AUS) by Ashraful in Two ODIs, we will win one.
08. Atleast 40 Runs by Rafiq as opener and in two ODIs, we will win one.
09. Atleast 3 Stamps by Mashud in two ODIs, we will win onw.
10. Atleast 30 Runs saving By Bangladeshi fielders in two ODIs among 3 ODIs, we will win one.

In TEST the target should be:
01. Another Century, and may be double century by Ashraful.
02. Not loosing game within 3/4 days.
03. Lossing game on 5th days.
04. DRAW.

We welcome a strong fight from Bangla Boys! Agrrasive Captaincy, and attacking field setup is required from Bashar! and 100% Full Efforts from each player is required!


Edited on, August 11, 2005, 11:11 AM GMT, by sleeping_giant.

haha you're hillarious.

[Xavier]

Originally posted by Ahmed_B

Well.. IMO, there is a distinct difference between BD's performance in Multan in 2003 and the one in WI in 2004.

Multan was a close match... but BD scored only 261 & 154 in 1st and 2nd innings with Bashar's 72 being the highest in both innings for BD. Not a single other batsman scored even a 50 for BD. Pakistan scored only 175 in 1st innings and then 262-9 in 2nd. Both teams actually collapsed in batting.


Whereas in WI'2004 BD scored 416 in 1st innings and then got WI all-out for 352... taking a good lead. And then again BD scored 271 in 2nd innings and left only half a day play for WI in the 5th day. Bashar, Rafiq & Pilot Scored 100's and Ash(81) & Rajin got 50's as well.

Resultwaise... Multan might have been closer... but St. Lucia match was much higher in terms of solid performance by the whole team including the Batsmen. As I feel, BD could attain to the real Test Match Spirit in the WI more than Multan. If Bd needs to do well in Tests... they must learn to sustain long innings till the 5th day.. rather like the WI match I suppose. Situations like Multan are rather less usual in Tests.

Edited on, August 11, 2005, 3:31 PM GMT, by Ahmed_B.

You are right, I can see the difference between the two tests.
Let's hope this time Bangladesh will do better, or at least another draw, although Sri Lanka are a tough opponent (IMO they are 3rd better team in the world, as India proved to be quite fragile in the series vs Pakistan).

[SS]

It's hard to predict. Lankan team is getting their forms back. When their top order clicks it's very hard to get them out below 300 in one day and 550 in test. On the other hand, their bowlers work as a team. Each of the bowlers contribute something on top of Vass and Murali's contribution.

[Ahmed_B]

Bringing up a past topic again...sorry..

But seeing the result of the First practice match vs. the SL-A team.. I am having the fears again... that BD is probably going to have a horrible start of the tour with some bad ODIs because they ODIs are going to be played in the beginning.

They may come up with a better test series later on though.